


Potential Threats

by shadowglove88



Series: Champions Series [3]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Smallville, Supernatural
Genre: Another year has passed, But they don't actually hate each other..., F/M, Lois' life is being targeted, Metahuman Whitney, Nothing ever goes according to plans though, She's more pysched than anything about it, Whitney and Clark can't get along, they've graduated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 08:18:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15859794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowglove88/pseuds/shadowglove88
Summary: Graduation is now behind them and so much has happened since their visit to L.A. Chloe is so close to finally fulfilling her and Sam's dream of her going to be with him in Stanford-and yet never so far away.





	1. Chapter 1

A lot had happened since that fateful journey to L.A. Not only had they just celebrated graduation, but things were busier than ever on the champion front.

"What's the 411 on the situation?" Lois Lane wanted to know, combat boots resting on the armrest of the sofa in the Kent's loft as she laid down on said sofa, taking up all of its space quite shamelessly.

From where Clark Kent was leaning against the window frame, he raised an eyebrow at her. It'd taken a while for him to get used to only having his superstrength, and was otherwise still getting used to living mostly like a normal human being. While he usually was patient about it he could sometimes lose his patience when he'd forget that he couldn't superspeed or see through things anymore.

"It's happening to  _you_ , Lane." From where he was sitting on the railing of the loft, Whitney Fordman, the most surprising member of their group, spoke with a snort. "Shouldn't  _you_  be the one informing  _us_  on the newest developments?"

" _Uh, NO,_ " Lois replied in a 'duh' voice. "If I  _knew_  what was going on we wouldn't be calling this meeting."

Whitney shook his head and looked away, folding his arms over his chest.

Clark looked away from him.

Despite Whitney having unofficially joined their group months ago it was still somewhat tense between Lana's two exes. Each kinda felt that they'd taken Lana from each other during one time or the other, and while neither were  _with_  the brunette at the moment hurt male ego was  _still_  giving them no rest.

Chloe frowned as she looked between Clark and Whitney. They really had to give it a break. Usually they were okay with each other, or  _indifferent_ with each other, but right when they'd seem to be getting along together something would happen and they'd act like  _this_.

It was  _annoying_.

She knew that Lana really wasn't the  _true_  reason they fought. Neither seemed more than vaguely annoyed with her newest boyfriend, Adam Knight, but they were constantly bucking heads with each other over the littlest of things-but then they could work like a perfect team the very next minute.

They really needed to get over their petty rivalry.

Each had a valid reason for being on this team.

Clark was a champion, he was going to fight the baddies that came his way. He had to redeem himself for selling his powers and true destiny for Lana's life, had to redeem himself for the acts that'd led to his life and those of his friends being under divine contract.

And Whitney had (soon after finding out about the supernatural) lost his father to a demon attack. No one was sure  _why_ it'd happened. It was only because the attack had happened while Chloe was over his house due to the fact that they'd been assigned that evening as study partners for chemistry that she was able to chase the demon away before it could go after Whitney or his mother.

What had worried Chloe the most was that it was the  _same_  demon that'd killed Lana. He hadn't shown his face after taking Clark's powers in exchange for her life, but he'd come back only to attack the Fordman's?

And then Whitney had begun to experience  _change_.

He'd withdrawn himself for a whole month, quitting the football team, avoiding his friends, and disappearing before and after school.

Chloe'd begun to worry about him when he'd pulled her into the janitor's closet while she'd been walking down the hall one day and spilled everything.

He could electrocute things if he lost control of his emotions.

And he was  _frightened_.

Chloe was the only one else he knew who was  _different_ , who he'd felt he could trust her with his secret. She'd taken him to Lois and Clark, and they'd vowed to help him—although Clark was more reluctant to do so than Lois.

Chloe had taken Whitney under her wing, teaching him how to control his power and not let it go haywire every time he got mad or felt an extreme emotion. Lois taught him the basics of what they did and of the creatures they'd encountered while doing it. And Clark had taught him how to fight.

Slowly they'd become this odd and not always harmonious family, accepting a curious but wary Whitney into their fold and making him one of them.

There was a connection between them now.

The demon that'd attacked them had attacked  _him_  and his family.

They just wished that they knew more about this demon and what he wanted with them.

And now  _this_.

Someone was targeting Lois with deadly design and no one could figure out  _why._  Lois  _swore_  that she hadn't done anything to offend the ones who'd attacked her, hadn't even  _seen_  anyone like them before they'd attacked at the Beanery.

"We need to find out before they come and attack you.  _Again_." Clark frowned. There'd been three attacks so far, and they needed to know  _who_  these people were and  _why_  they were after Lois.

"Where's Wesley?" Chloe wanted to know, noting the absence of their fifth and final member.

"I don't know." Lois looked at her watch. "He said he had to check up on something with an old acquaintance of his, and he's been gone ever since."

The last yet not least member of their group,  _Wesley Wyndam-Pryce,_  had joined them some months back after Whitney's initiation. He'd once worked besides his old friends in L.A., but manipulations and false prophesies had robed Angel of his son and had left Wesley alone in a hospital with a slit throat.

Once Cordelia had called Lois when she and her boyfriend Groo had returned and found out about what'd happened, the young Smallvillian brunette had traveled immediately to L.A. to be besides her boyfriend. She'd arrived a couple of days later with Wesley, who still hadn't been able to talk because of his injuries, and had brought most of his things with them then.

Gabe had allowed Wesley to stay in the spare bedroom until he found an apartment a week later and Lois moved in with him, causing a scandal and uproar in the high school but since Lois was already almost nineteen at the time they hadn't really been able to do anything but talk about her.

Also, since Lois really didn't give a shit about what people thought about her all the rumors had flown over her head and had stopped within weeks once they realized that no matter what they said it didn't affect her.

Chloe had traveled with Whitney and Clark to L.A. to get the rest of Wesley's things from his apartment for him while the once Watcher was confined to bed-rest and Lois stayed faithfully by his side taking care of him.

The blonde left Whitney and Clark packing the ex-watcher's  _many_  books and belongings, and had gone straight to the Hyperion-Angel Investigation's newest office, and gotten the whole story out of Lorne, who now lived there as well due to Caritas being destroyed.

She'd been horrified at the news, and had gone to talk to Angel. The vampire had cried on her shoulder at the loss of his son, but he'd gone cold when she'd mentioned Wesley's name. The blonde realized that it was still to early to try and heal the wound, so she'd left the vampire alone, had met Groo (the one man who'd been able to get Cordelia to stop 'hubba hubba-ing' after Clark) and she'd liked the half demon with the beautiful eyes.

Finally she'd hugged Lorne, nodded goodbye to Fred and Gunn, (two people who'd joined Angel Investigations after her last visit), and returned to help Clark and Whitney take the rest of the things to the airport, surprised to find the two men getting along perfectly well together and even laughing at something when she'd gotten into the apartment.

So Wesley, now strong and healthy once more, had become a member of  _their_  group, was  _their_  watcher, and admittedly enjoyed the busy life one lived when in Smallville.

Also, living with Lois  _had_  to be an adventure in itself…

…and that was when mysterious people  _weren't_  trying to kill her.

The sound of footsteps below caught their attention. Whitney turned slightly on his seat on the railing and smiled down at the person below. "We were just talking about you, Wes."

"No  _wonder_  my ears where burning!" Wesley announced with a small grin at the blonde boy as he hurried up the stairs that led to the loft. "How's the meeting going?"

" _Nowhere!"_  Lois groaned as she sat up and patted the section next to her. " _Tell_  me that you have some news."

"Actually, I  _do_." Wesley's face was grave as he took in a deep breath and went towards Lois, sitting next to her. "Honey, you're a potential."

"A potential what?" Lois asked as he grabbed her hands.

Wesley looked around at all of the people present before returning his gaze to his girlfriend. "Slayer. You're a potential  _Slayer_." He hurried on when Lois went still. "The reason you've been attacked is because The First Evil is killing all potential Slayers-has been doing so for some while now."

"How do you know all of this?" Clark asked, pushing away from the wall, concern etched into his every feature.

Wesley turned to look at him with a sigh. "I called an old acquaintance of mine, Rupert Giles. He used to be a watcher for the council as well and while he's retired he's still working with the current Slayer, Buffy Summers. I told him about the people who'd attacked Lois and he recognized them as the servants of The First Evil."

"When you say First Evil…" Whitney paused.

"I  _mean_  the First Evil," Wesley responded. "As in the first evil to ever exist, the root of all evil."

"The root of all evil wants Lois dead?" Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Because she's a potential slayer?"

Wesley nodded.

Lois had yet to react to this.

"But Buffy and the other potentials are going to fight them tonight-and she's warned me of what they're planning on doing." Wesley's grip on Lois' hands tightened. "To be able to battle the First Evil and the original vampires under its power, she plans to use Willow, a witch friend of hers, to awaken  _every_  Potential."

"Awaken?" Whitney frowned, eyes glancing with concern in Lois' direction. "What does that mean exactly?"

"That means that," Wesley took in a deep breath. "Every girl who is a potential-or in other words every girl who had the  _chance_  of becoming a slayer—no matter  _how_  slim that chance may be— _will_  become a slayer. They'll  _all_  become slayers."

Clark, Whitney and Chloe all shared looks, shocked.

"So you're telling me..." Lois finally spoke in a soft, emotionless voice. "That after tonight I'm going to become a  _Slayer_?"

Wesley gulped and then nodded, just as worried as everyone else about her reaction to this news.

Lois was silent for a moment before pulling her hands from Wesley's and getting up, walking towards the stairs, going down wordlessly.

The four remaining shared uneasy looks and followed the young woman down to the bottom part of the barn, watching as she went to stand next to Jonathan Kent's tractor and sigh as she looked at it.

They didn't know what to say, didn't know what questions must be racing through her mind at that very moment.

"Will I be able to lift that?" Lois suddenly asked, voice curious as she stared at the tractor contemplatively.

"Huh?" Wesley asked, confused.

"Slayers are supposed to be  _really_  strong, right?" Lois asked, a small smile on her face. "I want to know if I'll be strong enough to lift the tractor. I saw Smallville do it the other day and I found it  _wicked cool_."

There was shocked silence.

Chloe and Whitney turned to each other and stared into the other's eyes before bursting out in laughter, all the tension draining from the atmosphere immediately.

" _What_?" Lois asked, seeming genuinely confused as to why they were laughing.

Clark sighed and shook his head, folding his arms over his chest as he inhaled, a small smile fighting its way on his face.

Wesley was genuinely  _perturbed_. "Honey, you're going to be a  _Slayer_. Your destiny will forevermore be to fight evil until your dying days."

"And that's different from now  _how_?" Lois asked, leaning against the tractor she'd been observing moments before. "At least  _this_  way I have some advantage in fight!  _Hell_ , I'm  _relieved!_ " She threw her hands in the air. "You'd think that the Oracles and Lorne could have just come out and said in a year I'd turn into a Slayer. Clean, simple,  _no_  stress wondering what the  _hell_  was going to happen to me."

Wesley opened his mouth.

Lois continued on. "But do they make life easier for me?  _No_. They go on and  _on_  with annoyingly vague predictions of this ' _great change'_  that would occur in my life in the near future and yadda yadda  _freakin_ ' YADDA."

Wesley finally closed his mouth, shaking his head, hand on his forehead. "Why do I even bother?" He asked himself, turning his back on Lois and returning up the stairs once more to go lie on the sofa.

Obviously he'd mentally prepared himself for an unsure, nervous, inconsolable Lois and realized that he'd gone through all that mental torture for  _nothing_.

The woman in front of him looked  _giddy_.

"What time do I become super-chick?" Lois called upwards as she hurriedly took the steps two by two, chasing after her mentally exhausted boyfriend and partner.

" _Midnight_." Wesley's tired answer could be heard from the loft.

"Wicked." Lois could be heard plopping down on the sofa next to him.

Chloe looked up at the loft and closed her eyes, that feeling of resentment and jealousy flaring inside of her once more as she watched them. God, she wished she was like them. Lois had her boyfriend with her, he wasn't studying, was in the process of opening a bookstore in Smallville, had already bought the store that'd once belonged to Tina Greer's mom.

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was making his life in Smallville because Lois was here.

And Chloe envied her cousin because of it.

The blonde remembered her dreams of graduating from high school and going to Stanford to study journalism and move in with Sam. She'd waited for this moment for  _two whole years_ , and now even though she had the acceptance letter under her pillow in her bedroom she wouldn't be able to realize that dream.

_And all because of that_ _**dream** _ _._

Chloe sighed as she turned away from the others and began to walk away from them, out the door.

She hadn't told the others about the dream that warned her not to leave Smallville. It was of the Oracles telling her that she was the champion of the Powers and the Powers needed her and the others in Kansas, in Smallville.

She couldn't leave.

_But how can I tell_ _**Sam** _ _that?_

Rounding the back of the barn Chloe leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to keep back her tears.

Sam Winchester had been an  _angel_  with her these last two years. He'd been patient and helpful and wonderful. Sure, they'd hardly seen each other face to face in those two years but they'd communicated daily and she felt closer to him than she did anyone else.

They'd  _both_  counted down the days until she turned eighteen and could graduate and go to live with him.

So how could she look him in the eyes and tell him she'd be going to MetU instead?

_I_ _**can't** _ _._

Twisting the promise ring Sam had slaved for two weeks to buy her for her seventeenth birthday, Chloe felt so  _lost._

"You okay, Chlo?"

She looked up to see Whitney standing close to her side, Clark a little behind him. Both were watching her worriedly.

The blonde tried to give them a brave smile but knew it was watery at best. "Not really," she finally admitted. "I got accepted into Stanford."

Whitney and Clark shared confused looks before Clark turned to her and cleared his throat. "Isn't that what you  _wanted_?"

"I thought so too," Whitney announced, one blonde eyebrow raised higher than the other. "I thought the big plan was for you to go to Cali to be with that boyfriend of yours."

"That  _was_  the plan." Chloe nodded, horrified as she realized she was crying.

" _Chloe_?" Clark whispered, coming towards her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Is there something you haven't told us? Did something happen between you and Sam?"

"No.  _No_." Chloe shook her head and reassured him, wiping at her tears. "Everything with me and Sam is fine."

"Then what's wrong?" Whitney asked, leaning against the wall next to her, looking at her in confusion. "Don't you  _want_  to go to Stanford anymore?"

" _God_  yes." She nodded, continuing to wipe at her tears. "But I won't go." She took in a deep breath. "I applied to MetU and got accepted. I'll be starting there with the rest of you. Don't ask me why. It—it's just something I have to do and all you can do is support me."

Clark and Whitney exchanged another look before turning to her and nodding silently.

"Thanks guys." Chloe smiled, though she knew it looked as pitiful as it felt.

Whitney sighed and placed an arm around her shoulder, pulling her towards him. "Stop crying already."

She chuckled softly at him and nodded, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Let her cry if she wants." Clark scolded. "Not everyone is a barbarian like  _you_  who doesn't realize that crying  _doesn't_  make you weak."

"She's not a sissy like  _you_ , Kent, who goes to brood in their loft at the tiniest little stubbing of his  _toe_." Whitney announced, giving Chloe a little squeeze. "This is our fierce and ferocious leader we're talking about."

"Fierce and ferocious are basically the same word." Chloe pointed out as she wiped at another stray tear.

"So you're  _doubly_  fierce." Whitney didn't seem very put out with the comment. "Where's that bitch who kept 'accidentally' burning me whenever I'd annoy her by being slow in learning the control over my power?"

She barked out a loud laugh. "It  _was_  accidental you brute!"

" _Right_." Whitney snorted, a grin growing on his lips.

Clark rolled his eyes at him and yet smiled.

"So, have you guys decided what you're going to be at the Beanery's Halloween party this Friday night?" Whitney asked them, grinning charmingly. "I'm seriously thinking about going as a zombie footballer."

"Couldn't think up anything more  _creative_?" Clark taunted.

"Dude, it's better than anything  _you_  would go as. Don't think I don't remember that valentine's party you and Lana went to together at school." Whitney pointed his hand accusingly at the other man. "You went as  _Romeo_. How  _gay_  can you get?"

"It wasn't  _gay_." Clark blushed.

Whitney raised an eyebrow at him. "You wore  _tights_. I  _hate_  to say it Kent, but it doesn't get any gayer than that."

Clark opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, glaring at Whitney, who smirked at his victory.

Chloe sighed as she shook her head at those two.

What would it take for them to get along?

When she got home later that night, Chloe noticed the rental car parked by her dad's in the driveway and wondered who could be visiting. It'd been a while since her father had entertained friends and he'd been so busy at work in Luthorcorp that she hardly ever saw him.

So it was weird not only to have him home, but to know that he had company.

Curiosity growing in her body, Chloe snuck into the house and followed the voices muffled by the music to the living room. Her father was sitting towards her having a cup of coffee with someone sitting with his back towards her, but she didn't need to see his face to know who it was.

It was the same man she'd gotten off the phone with a couple hours before.

Chloe froze, unable to believe her eyes.

Gabe saw her and smiled. "Honey, we have company."

The man in the seat got up and turned, smiling with those beautiful lips of his. "Hey Chlo."

" _Sam_?" Chloe whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

Sam grinned tenderly at her, pleased by her shock. "Surprise."

" _Sam_!" Chloe cried, finally believing he was there. She forced her body to move and in seconds was across the room and in his arms, holding him as tightly as he was holding her. " _Sam_."


	2. Chapter 2

"A  _slayer_?" Sam asked later as they were curled up together on the sofa, shoes kicked off and an afghan covering them.

"Yep." Chloe nodded, breathing in his scent happily. They were alone in the house since her father had returned to the fertilizer plant, and she  _still_  couldn't believe Sam was there with her in Smallville.

"Lois with superpowers." Sam shook his head and hugged her closer. " _Scary_."

"I know." Chloe laughed. "I feel so  _sorry_  for Wesley." She then paused, holding him tighter. "You-you never told me why you came to Smallville. I'm not complaining  _at all_ , I'm just curious." She frowned. "I didn't forget your birthday or any other important date, did I?"

Her head was already racing with the possibility.

"No, I came because-." Sam sighed and moved away slightly, causing Chloe to sit up and turn to him in worry. "Chloe." His blue/green eyes stared at her intently as he sat up as well. "I don't want you to come to Stanford."

And her world stopped on its axis. " _What_?"

Sam reached over and enveloped her small, trembling hands into his larger one. "I don't want you coming to Stanford."

" _Why not_?" She whispered, eyes wide, shocked. Never in a million years had she thought she'd hear those words coming from Sam's lips. "Did I do something wrong? Did I-?"

"What?  _God_  no! You're misunderstanding me!" Sam was quick to clear that, sliding closer towards her, rubbing his thumb over her skin. " _Chloe_ , I'm _not_  breaking up with you!"

And she relaxed,  _somewhat_. "Then  _what_  are you saying? You want us to be together but you don't  _want_ me in Stanford?"

"Exactly." Sam nodded, reaching out with his free hand and cupping the side of her face tenderly. " _I'm_ moving  _here_."

Chloe's eyes widened, once again shocked out of her senses. " _What_?"

Sam was serious, frowning slightly. "Chloe, I—I haven't been a hundred percent truthful with you." He sighed and looked down at their joined hands. "I—I've been having these  _dreams_  lately…"

Dreams?

 _Fuck_.

He could  _not_  be talking about-.

"Do you remember some months ago? The ghost who possessed Mrs. Kent and nearly killed Lois with the butcher's knife?" Sam asked, gaze not leaving their hands.

"Of course I remember." Chloe made a face at the memory. "I got in the middle and got stabbed with that nightmarish thing but I healed up in a couple of hours after they'd gotten the ghost out of Mrs. Kent."

"I-I  _dreamt_  about it before it happened," Sam admitted, voice low and guilty. "I thought it was only a recurring nightmare-god  _knows_  I have nightmares about what you must be doing every night! And then you called me and I realized that it was what I'd dreamt."

Chloe leaned closer to him in surprise.

Sam had  _dreamt_  of it before it'd happened?

"I thought it was a fluke, but then I kept dreaming about a meteor freak who blew up an old flower shop and made you lose an eye when the glass flew into your face." Sam finally looked up at her, eyes so  _guilty_. "And I  _still_  didn't want to believe it, but then one day Lois answered your phone and recounted that exact thing happened, that you were resting as your body healed back up."

Chloe's hand went to the eye she'd lost and re-grown all in one day.

Sam recaptured that hand and brought it to his lips, giving it a kiss that was so tender it was saddening. "This last month I've been having  _another_  dream, and because of that dream I  _can't_  let you come to Stanford."

The blonde was touched by his obvious concern but still a little confused. "It can't be  _that_  bad, Sam. I'm immortal, remember? No matter  _what_  happened to me in your dream I would have come back alive-give or take a couple of hours."

"Chloe, you didn't  _die_  in my dream." Sam looked at her, eyes dark. "You were captured and being tortured over and  _over_  again, your powers of healing being used against you so you wouldn't die but be in constant agony.  _And I couldn't help you_.  _No one could._ "

Shivering at the conviction in his voice, Chloe looked deep into his face. "You don't need to rearrange your whole life for me, Sam."

He shook his head, laughing softly, and it was a dark sound. "You don't get it, do you? For two years now you have  _become_  my life."

A blush darkened her cheeks at the conviction in those words. " _Sam_."

"And the decision's made already, there's nothing you can do to stop me." The brunet stood and walked to the window, looking out of it, shucking his hands into his jeans' pockets. "I already paid for an apartment here and I'm taking a sabbatical. MetU already agreed to give me a scholarship  _and_  transfer my credits whenever I want to take up my studies again."

Chloe blinked.

He'd obviously planned everything perfectly.

" _And_  I already have a job," Sam hurried on, turning to face her. "Wesley will need an assistant in the bookstore when it's done in a week or two, and will trust no one else around his books." He smiled slightly. "The pay won't be much, but it'll be enough to pay the rent and have food on our table."

" _Our_  table?" Chloe whispered, picking up on the wording.

Sam's eyes widened and a blush darkened his cheeks as he ducked his gaze, dark silk falling into his face and shadowing it slightly. "Uh,  _yeah_ ,  _right._  I hadn't gotten to that part yet."

"This would be the part where you still want me to live with you but just not in Stanford?" Chloe guessed, smile lighting her features, sitting up straighter on the sofa in excitement. "Isn't is?"

"In a less romantic wording than I'd previously planned?  _Yes_." He grinned at her sheepishly, still blushing slightly. "You're eighteen now, you'll be studying in MetU, and as long as I don't 'become a right bastard' and 'break your heart' I got your father's blessing."

"Wesley… _my father_ …" She didn't know whether to laugh or frown. "How many people were in on this?"

"Just them," he reassured quickly. "Chloe, I want us to live together. I love you and you know me better than my father and brother ever did," he cleared his throat nervously. "I think it's time we had  _that talk_."

She grinned, feeling like a perverted old man staring at bikini-clad teenaged girls. " _That_  talk?"

"Yeah." He nodded, blushing darker, clearing his throat once more. " _That_  talk."

Inner Chloe was jumping up and down screaming " _YAY!"_  at the top of her lungs.

 _Outer_  Chloe just smirked. "When do we move in?"

Sam looked up at her and smiled. "So you'll move in with me?"

"Sam Winchester, I've been waiting  _two years_ for this moment." She laughed, getting up and sauntering towards him, going on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around her giant's neck as he bent towards her. "Of  _course_  I'll move in with you."

He grinned and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, lifting her effortlessly off of the ground as he brought his lips to hers and groaned at the taste of her. "We  _never_  kiss enough," he complained softly as he moved them towards the sofa and lowered them on the softness, him resting on his back and her resting over him.

Chloe felt her body heating at such an intimate positioning, but she only laughed at what he'd said and ran her tongue over his bottom lip before sucking that luscious lip into her mouth hungrily, something she'd been wanting to do for a  _long_  time now.

" _Damn,_ " Sam hissed, his hands to going to her waist as if on reflex. " _Chloe_ …"

The sound of the front door slamming shut brought them apart immediately, both standing and fixing their hair and straightening their clothes.

"Chloster!" Whitney's voice could be heard calling from the doorway. "Where are you? You're needed  _now_ oh Bitch of my heart!"

"The annoying little  _bastard_." Chloe couldn't help but laugh.

Sam was far from laughing. "Who  _is_  that?"

Suddenly Lois, Wesley, Whitney and Clark appeared in the doorway.

There was silence and then:

" _SAM!_ " Lois cried out in happiness as she hurried towards the newcomer and threw her arms around him, hugging the young man tightly. "It's so good to see you! What're you doing here in Smallville?  _Other_  than coming to see my Baby Cuz of course."

Sam grinned at Lois and hugged her back. "Well, Chloe and I needed to talk about some important things."

" _Oh_." Lois nodded, pulling away, grinning lecherous. "The eighteen-year-mark. I remember! You two want to be left alone?"

Chloe blushed and shook her head at her cousin. "Subtlety, they name is  _not_  Lois Lane."

"Wait," Whitney finally spoke, turning to Clark. "You're saying that  _he_  is the dude Chloe's dating?"

Clark nodded, eyebrow raised at the blonde. "Yeah, that's Sam."

Whitney made a face and walked up to Sam, eyebrow raised as he openly examined him top to bottom before looking at Chloe and then returning his gaze to Sam and breaking out into a grin, shaking the surprised brunet's hand. "Like I told Wesley when I found out about him and Lane-I  _admire_  your guts. I'd be  _terrified_  to be with either Chloe or Lois, but  _especially_  Chloster. She's a real  _bitch_  when things aren't going her way." And yet he was all smiles. "I  _still_  have scars from where she burnt me out of spite because I couldn't learn to control my powers fast enough for her."

"It was  _accidental_!" Chloe cried out, laughing at him. "And you're a  _crybaby_  Whitney Fordman! Those little burns didn't leave any scars!"

"Not  _physically_." The ex-footballer countered. "But  _emotionally_? I  _still_  cringe every time you light up."

Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed.

Sam was grinning as he shook Whitney's hand once more and let go. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, and Chloe has no reason to burn me." He placed an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. "She's got me curled around her little finger and she  _knows it_."

"Damn straight." Chloe grinned up at him and smiled when Sam bent to press a chaste kiss to her lips.

Whitney smiled at them.

The rest of the greetings occurred and then the gang made themselves at home in Chloe's living room. Apparently Lois had wanted  _everyone_  present the moment she 'awakened', and since they were going to have to wait till  _midnight_  for that to happen  _and_  there were no baddies to slay at the moment, their conversation turned to a more  _mundane_  topic.

"I'm  _telling_  you, zombie footballer is  _outdated,_ " Clark argued as he returned from Chloe's kitchen with Wesley, both carrying boxes of snacks they'd pillaged from the Sullivan's cabinets.

" _Stuff_  it, Kent." Whitney threw a piece of popcorn at the dark hair alien who sat down next to him. " _No one_ asked for your opinion and yet you give it  _so freely_."

" _That_ 's because you're in such  _desperate need_  of good advice," Clark countered, actually managing to catch the piece of popcorn in his mouth and chomp on it, smirking at Whitney.

"As  _if_ , Kent." Whiteny reached over and grabbed the chocolate bar in Clark's hand, unwrapping it and taking a bite out of it before passing it back to the alien, who looked at the bar with a raised eyebrow.

"You can  _not_  be serious." Clark refused to touch the bar.

"Don't say I don't  _share,_ " Whitney replied with a shrug, taking another bite out of the chocolate.

"It was  _mine_  to begin with," Clark reminded, eyes narrowing.

"No, since it was in the kitchen it was  _Chloe's,_ " Whitney said in a 'take  _that_ ' voice before ignoring the fuming male by his side and turning to an amused-looking Wesley. "So, Wes, what are you and Lane going as to the party?"

The Brit winced, pushing his glasses higher up his nose. "I'd prefer not to say."

Lois slugged her boyfriend playfully before grinning at Whitney. "We're going as Harry Potter and Hermione Granger."

Wesley whimpered slightly at the reminder.

"You  _do_  realize that they don't end up together, right?" Clark asked slowly. "Hermione ends up with Ron and Harry with-."

" _Shh_! Smallville!" Lois shook her hand violently. "Don't remind me how Rowling ruined it for me!"

" _Oookay_." The alien snorted before turning to Sam. "Hey Sam, you going to be around this weekend?"

Sam was silent for a moment before clearing his throat. "Actually, I'm here to stay." He looked a little uncomfortable with all the attention on him. "I already moved all my things into an apartment I'm renting downtown. Tonight will be my first night there actually."

There was silence, and then everyone broke out in congratulations (and Lois lecherously commenting on 'breaking in the apartment').

"So, what  _are_  we going as?" Chloe wanted to know from where she was sitting between Sam's legs, leaning back against him.

The brunet sighed into her hair, his arms around her. "You know I hate Halloween."

" _C'mon_." Chloe twisted around in his arms to see him better. "It's going to be our first Halloween living together! We have to celebrate it!"

Sam made a face and then groaned, giving in. "Okay, okay. You pick the costumes. I'll go as whatever you choose."

"You might regret that." She laughed before turning to Clark. "What about you?"

The farmboy hesitated before answering. "I don't know, I was thinking something like Hamlet or something."

"What  _is_  it with you and  _tights_?" Whitney wanted to know, finishing the chocolate bar and turning to look at the other male oddly.

" _Now_  who's giving advice when it isn't wanted?" Clark narrowed his blue eyes at Whitney.

Whitney shook his head.

They continued to argue throughout the night as everyone talked and enjoyed themselves, and Chloe must have fallen asleep sometime before midnight because the next thing she knew there was the sound of shocked voices and a television set talking about a crater being the only left of Sunnyale thanks to the explosion of a power plant or something as insane as that.

The blonde groaned and looked up, surprised to see some daylight out of the window. She looked around the room, seeing that she wasn't the only one who'd been sleeping. Whitney and Clark had both dosed off sometime apparently before midnight lying side by side on the floor, snoring slightly.

"Thank you Rupert, no, I just called to make sure that you were all able to get out in time." Wesley was talking on his cellular in the corner of the room while Lois sat in front of the television, watching the air-shots taken from a helicopter flying over the large crater that had once been Sunnydale, California.

 _Hellmouth_.

"Lois is fine.  _Yes_. It happened during midnight as predicted." Wesley sent a small smile in Lois' direction. "Remarkably well, but that's to be expected. There's not a lot in this world that could upset my girl."

Lois was oblivious to his tender regard, eyes wide and on the television as they continued to show the disaster site.

"Spike did?" Wesley seemed surprised. "I wonder if Angel and the others know about his sacrifice." There was a pause. "I don't speak to them either."

Chloe was saddened by the strain in the ex-watcher's voice at those words and she couldn't help the resentment she felt for Angel and co. They spoke about justice and truth and all those nice words and then they take over the  _evil law firm_  they'd been battling with from the moment Angel had moved to L.A.?

No  _wonder_  their Sunnydale friends had stopped having anything to do with them!

 _Chloe, that's just your hurt for Wesley talking._  Her inner voice whispered.  _You KNOW that Angel and Cordy and everyone are REALLY good people, even if you can't understand the decisions they've made_.

"Hey, you're awake." Sam's voice caused her to jerk her head to see him coming out of the kitchen with a tray filled with cups of coffee.

"You are my god." She whimpered, reaching for one and taking a sip of the heavenly brew. "Remind me why I didn't run away to live with you two years ago?"

"Because I would have been arrested for kidnapping and statutory rape?" Sam asked with a grin as he passed Lois and Wesley their cups, leaving the two for Whitney and Clark on the tray on a table.

"Oh, right,  _that_." Chloe made space for him on the sofa as he sat down next to her with his own cup of brew. "So, you stayed awake all night?"

Sam shook his head. "I fell asleep a little after you did. But I  _did_  get a glimpse of Lois' powers this morning when I woke up. She accidentally crushed your dad's mug with her bare hand when Wesley got the call, told her to turn on the TV, and she saw the crater."

" _Crushed_ it," Chloe repeated slowly.

Sam nodded. " _Crushed_."

"Poor Wesley." Chloe grinned as she took another sip of coffee.

"Don't think I'm not listening to you two," Lois laughed from where she was still sitting on the floor, eyes on the television. "I will  _not_  hurt Wesley with my new macho strength. I'll  _protect_  him."

"But who will protect my frail manly ego?" The Brit asked with amusement as he ended the phone call with Rupert Giles and sat down next to her, eyes turning to the television as well. "They lost a lot of the girls, but many made it out safely still.  _Thank god_."

"Is Buffy alive?"

"Yeah." Wesley nodded. "Apparently  _Spike_  sacrificed himself to save the world."

"Spike?" Chloe asked, frowning as she recognized the name. "You mean  _William the Bloody_? Angel's grandchilde?"

Wesley turned to her and nodded.

" _Why_  would a soulless vamp-?" Chloe's eyes widened. "He had his soul!"

"Rupert just informed me of that little detail." Wesley nodded once more. "Apparently Spike fell in love with Buffy and went through demon trials to get his soul for her." There was a pause. "Apparently Angel  _knew_ , but he never told any of us."

"I can't believe it," Chloe whispered.

"Neither can I." Lois suddenly burst out laughing. "Someone get me my phone! I need to take a picture of this! They're  _cuddling_!"

Everyone turned to where she was pointing.

To be truthful they  _weren't_  'cuddling'  _per se_.

Whitney was hugging his old school football jersey and Clark was hugging  _him_ , both having sought for warmth in their sleep.

Lois finally got her phone and began taking pictures of them. "This is kinda like the Haley's Comet, an opportunity like this is a once in a lifetime thing!"

Chloe and Sam exchanged looks while Wesley groaned and tried to convince Lois that blackmailing the two super-powered boys when they woke up  _wasn't_  the smartest thing for her to do, even if she  _did_  now have abilities of her own.

Of course, he was unsuccessful.


	3. Chapter 3

The last two days had been thankfully baddie-free, so the gang had been able to concentrate on their daily lives. Chloe had finished moving her things into Sam's nice-sized apartment and since she had yet to spend a night with him in the apartment (her father had wanted her to spend the last nights at home with him), she was getting nervous and anxious for tonight.

It would be the Halloween party…and the first night that she spent with Sam in  _their_  apartment…and she didn't plan on  _sleeping_ , no matter  _how_  tired either of them may be.

The costumes she'd picked out for Sam and her flung over her arm, Chloe headed towards the apartment and while she was fishing for her keys in her bag, her phone began to ring.

Picking up the slim green device she flipped the lid open and placed it to her ear. "Chloe speaking."

" _Chloster_." The voice on the other end was desperate. "Do something or I  _swear to God_  I'll kill your cousin."

Chloe tried to keep a laugh back valiantly at the pain in that voice.

Lois had held true to her threats and had blackmailed the boys the moment she'd been able to develop the pictures she'd kept hidden in her phone. Both had been horrified and hadn't been able to look the other in the face when they'd seen the LARGE pictures, had avoided the other like the  _plague_ , and were currently Lois' personal  _slaves_.

"Don't think I can't hear you snickering," Whitney Fordman accused with a little growl. "It's not funny! She has pictures of Kent nearly  _violating_  me and I'm suffering because of it! I'm  _innocent_  I tell you! I shouldn't be suffering in the same boat as that  _rapist_!"

Chloe couldn't help it, she laughed. What else was she supposed to do? Whitney was sputtering and stammering and so  _outraged_.

Plus, the thoughts of Clark being a rapist  _were_  hilarious. The guy was still a  _virgin_  for crying out loud-something Whitney had never failed to tease him about in the past.

"You know, his fetish with tights makes  _so_  much more sense to me right now that I think about it." Whitney went on in his rant.

Laughter bubbled up in Chloe's throat again as she finally found her keys. Holding her phone between her ear and shoulder she opened the door. Entering the apartment she kicked the door closed behind her and walked towards the lit living room, where she found Sam reading on the sofa. " _You're_  really invested in this fetish of his, Whitney. It's kinda suspicious." She bent down and pressed a kiss to Sam's lips and returned his smile as she went to the bedroom.

" _Invested_?" Whitney sputtered indignantly.

"Shouldn't you be getting dressed to dazzle us with your outfit?" Chloe wanted to know. "The party's in an hour you know."

There was a sigh. "Yeah, I know. Lane has me chauffeuring her and Wes." The ex-footballer growled. "That man sold his soul and moved in with the  _devil_." And with that he cut off the phone call, obviously going to get ready.

Rolling her eyes and laughing at Whitney, Chloe placed the outfits and phone on the bed… _gulp_ …and pulled off her coat, heading back to the living room and smiling at Sam, who seemed immersed in the book he was reading. Just from the cover of it she could tell it was ancient and in a language no person alive  _should_ know, and yet Sam was reading it as easily as if it were the Sunday comics.

"Hey you."

He looked up and smiled at her, placing a bookmarker to mark the page he was reading before closing the book. "Hey."

"So, what do dead men of centuries past have to offer that's so interesting?" Chloe asked, sauntering towards the sofa and sitting down next to him, placing the  _heavy_  volume on her lap and browsing through the chicken scribble that they had had the  _nerve_  to call a  _language_. "Ooh!  _Pictures_!"

Sam laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders, leaning towards her, placing his fingers on a certain text, speaking the chicken scribbles out in a language that sounded like someone talking through a mouthful of peanut butter.

"Show off." She pouted.

The brunette grinned, ducking his gaze, dark hair falling into his face. "Just a  _little_."

The blonde laughed at the admission. "Okay, in  _English_ , what did you read?"

"Loosely translated?" Sam asked. "Well, it's actually a protection spell, for a building or meeting place. I was thinking of actually performing it on this apartment-just in case." Removing the volume for her lap and motioning to a section at the bottom of the page, he smiled and looked up. "While you can't buy the things you'd need to cast the spell in a supermarket, they're still easy to find in- _what_?"

Chloe hadn't realized that she'd been  _staring_  at him. "Sorry." She blushed and looked away.

Sam blinked and closed the book. "What were you thinking about just now?"

"That I don't know whether to feel admiration, pride or  _guilt_." The blonde admitted, turning towards him on the sofa, curling her feet under her. "When I met you, you were had left your dad and brother to get  _away_ from all of the supernatural shit in your life, and somehow during these two years I've dragged you back into it, haven't I?" She sighed. "You're looking up  _spells_ , and if it hadn't been for  _your_  help we wouldn't have been able to put down a lot of the baddies we have." She paused, looking down at the carpet. "You haven't had a good retirement from demon hunting since you met me."

Sam was silent for a moment, watching her, before smiling. "You're too  _cute_ , you know that?"

Not having expected  _that_ , Chloe looked up, eyes wide. "Huh?"

Sam laughed and shook his head. "I never really  _hated_  the supernatural aspect of my life, what I hated was how it interfered with me having a  _normal life_. I wanted to be able to settle down with  _the one_  when I wanted, and that wasn't going to happen the way I was leading my life at the time. Hell, I would be lucky if I was able to even catch a  _glimpse_  of  _the one_  with the way we hardly stayed one place longer than it took to kill the monster we were after."

Chloe was surprised at this. Sam had never admitted to having  _liked_  battling evil before, she'd always thought it was something that'd been forced on him by his father-something he'd always  _resented_.

"And now I have a calling." Sam grinned brighter. "I have to keep you out of trouble. I'm your connection-."

Chloe's eyes widened. "To the Powers that Be."

Sam blinked, scratching his head in confusion. "I was going to say to both a normal life and a help in your calling..."

"No.  _Sam_." Chloe whispered, looking up at him. "You're my connection to the Powers that Be! It explains your dreams!" She got up, excited. "They told me that my connection would arrive soon and then  _you_ arrived but then with all the things that were happening at the time I just never sat down and thought about it but it's  _true_." She turned to him. "Your dreams were warnings for  _me_. Warnings from the  _Powers_."

Sam frowned, standing. "You-are you  _sure_?"

Chloe frowned. "Not a  _hundred_  percent, but you and I are going to L.A. tomorrow. I need Lorne to read us.  _He'll_  be able to answer the question- _only_  him."

Sam took in a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. "Are you  _sure_  you want to go to L.A.? Didn't you tell me that Angel and the others are now working  _with_  Wolfram and Hart? The  _evil_  law-firm from  _hell?_ "

"Yeah." Chloe made a face, stomach going queasy at the reminder. "But Lorne's the only one I trust with this."

"Okay." Sam nodded, trusting her judgment. "I guess we won't be going to that party then?"

"Huh?" Chloe asked, making a face at him. "Of  _course_  we're going! I paid a  _lot_  of money for those costumes!"

Sam groaned, sitting down. "Oh well, it was worth a try."

* * *

 

The Beanery's lights were darkened, Halloween decorations filled the place, and music boomed as the youth of Smallville and a couple of the elder folks dressed up as their favorite monsters or characters in movies and books, dancing and enjoying themselves.

Chloe grinned as she watched Sam by the makeshift 'bar', getting drinks for everyone. Usually the Beanery didn't sell alcohol, but it'd gotten a special license for this night had one the  _many_  flyers advertising this event they'd warned that anyone ordering liquor would have to present I.D.

"How did you manage to get Sam into a full-leather suit?" Lois was dying to know, pointing her rubber wand at the sinfully handsome Sam, who was getting a  _lot_  of looks from the female population of Smallville.

Chloe grinned. She and Sam were dressed as Jean Grey (or the  _Dark Phoenix_ -Chloe had a sense of humor too you know), and Scott Summers, or  _Cyclops_. "Some things are better left secret."

Wesley looked slightly uncomfortable with the conversation, fixing his robes. "The two of you are evil  _incarnate_. Why do Sam and I put up with you two again?"

"The great sex?" Lois asked, batting her eyelashes innocently at him.

Wesley had been in the middle of sipping his tea at that moment and choked on it while Chloe burst out into laughter.

"Look at Smallville, who would have  _thought_  that he had it in him…when he wasn't hyped up on red K of course." Lois pointed towards Clark, who'd forgone the tights. Apparently Whitney's teasing had gotten to him, and he'd appeared dressed as  _Neo_  from the  _Matrix_ , the long coat opened and showing the formfitting shirt and leather pants he wore with combat boots beneath.

All the girls who'd ignored his existence in high school were flocking around him in gaggles like geese, all trying to get the suddenly  _hot_  Clark Kent's attention.

And Clark looked  _terrified_.

"He looks like he  _wishes_  he'd gone with the tights," Chloe snickered, feeling a little guilty at laughing at her friend's expense but it was just too comical  _not_  to.

Whitney, who'd been watching this development, looked sinfully  _amused_ at the alien's situation before returning his attention to the girls flocking around  _him_. Despite the fact that he was dressed as a zombie footballer (as promised), and  _had_  quit the football team before graduation, his football fame and good looks assured him a  _constant_  spot in the three most desirable bachelors in Smallville.

"What are we talking about?" Sam asked, returning with drinks for him and Chloe, placing an arm around the back of her chair.

"Costumes," Wesley sighed.

"Is  _anyone_  surprised Lana came as a princess?" Lois asked no one in general, still scoping the people around her. "And Adam Knight coming as her  _Knight_? It's unoriginal. And  _tacky_."

"I think they look nice together." Wesley announced truthfully, earning him an elbow in his ribs. " _Lois_! This is a free country!" He winced, rubbing his ribs. "I  _can_  have my own opinion you know—and  _watch_  your slayer strength! You nearly broke my rib."

Her eyes widened. "Oh my—I'm so sorry baby!" Her hands went to his stomach. "Are you okay? Did I do any permanent damage?"

Wesley looked at her in silence before chuckling softly to himself and shaking his head. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" She looked so worried it was comical. "We should take you to see a doctor just in case.

" _I'm fine_." Wesley picked up his cup of tea once more.

If Wesley was good enough for his tea he really  _was_  a hundred per cent fine, and Lois knew this, so she calmed down the moment she watched him drinking the Earl Grey.

"You wanna dance?" Chloe turned to Sam with a tempting smile.

He grinned at her and then his eyes narrowed before closing tightly in pain as he brought his hands to his head.

"Sam?" Chloe's eyes widened as he hunched over, fingers digging into his skull, moans of pain escaping his lips. " _What's wrong_?"

He only doubled over more in pain, tightening his grip on his head so much she was expecting to see blood any second.

"What's going on?" Wesley asked.

"Is he okay?" Lois gasped.

Chloe did the only thing she could think of, she placed her hands over his and let out the heat of her healing powers. The power soaked into his skin, piercing his head, causing his face to go red, but at least his body was relaxing as the pain faded.

Sam leaned into Chloe, looking exhausted before his body finally relaxed completely and his arms went around her tightly, his face hidden in the curve of her neck, breathing in her scent erratically.

" _Sam_?" Chloe whimpered, afraid.

"What happened?" Clark was suddenly by her side.

"Is he okay?" Whitney was next to him. "I saw him double over."

"We're going to get attacked," Sam's voice was muffled in Chloe's neck and strained with pain.

"What?" Lois asked. "How do you know that?"

"How long have you been having visions?" Wesley asked, putting down his cup, voice grave.

"First time." Sam winced as he pulled away from Chloe. "I've  _dreamt_  things before, but I've  _never_  seen something while I was  _awake_."

"How is this possible?" Whitney asked.

"Guys." Chloe smiled weakly. "Meet the guy I'm  _sure_  is my connection to the Powers."

Clark's eyes widened. " _Sam_  is the connection?"

"That's what we're thinking." Sam groaned, hand to his head as he shook it slightly. "We don't have much time. They should be here any minute."

"What are we battling?" Lois asked, excited. "What did you see?"

"I-I've never seen anything like them before." Sam admitted, looking at all of them. "But they were  _huge_ and reminded me of mutated frogs with  _teeth_."

Lois made a face. " _Eew_."

Wesley stood. "Come, the weapons are in my car."

Wesley had brought all of his weapons with him from L.A., and kept them under the false bottom in his trunk. When he'd moved to Smallville the gang had only been somewhat versed in hand-to-hand combat since Chloe, Whitney and Clark usually only relied on their powers and Lois didn't get involved in the fights, but Wesley had changed that. He'd taken the four young adults and not only taught them to fight better in hand-to-hand situations, but had taught them how to use weapons as well.

The group headed out towards the deceptively common looking corolla and watched as Wesley opened the truck, got rid of the false bottom to display the array of different weapons hidden in his vehicle.

Everyone grabbed a weapon, and Chloe was shocked to find out that one of the many useful things John Winchester had taught his son was to fight with as many weapons as he'd gotten his hands on.

Sam tested the weight of the sword in his hand and did a couple of impressive hand movements, finally deciding he liked it.

Clark and Whitney's eyes met for the first time since the whole cuddling thing and they rolled their eyes at the same time at Sam.

Lois grinned. "Good thing this is a costume party, with our luck everyone inside is going to think this is just part of the entertainment." And with that they went back inside to wait for Sam's vision to come true.

And did it  _ever_.

At the strike of midnight the doors of the Beanery were thrown open and these large toad-like creatures burst through, salivating and roaring lion-like as they attacked the people in the party.

Chloe, Sam and the others charged, and the battle was fierce. There were just so  _many_  of the toad-like creatures.

Clark had one raised by its throat, using his superstrength to rip its throat away from its body, and then slashed with his sword at another charging at him.

He turned when he heard Whitney cry out.

Whitney had somehow lost his sword and two of the creatures had wound their tongues around his arms, slowly trying to tear him apart.

The blonde narrowed his eyes, wincing in pain, and surprised the creatures by grabbing hold of their tongues and squeezing tightly, making sure to have a good hold on them.

Sensing that there was something about this one that they hadn't noticed before, the creatures tried to free their tongues, but it was too late. Whitney groaned and closed his eyes, his hands cackling as electricity shot out from him to the creatures.

The toad-like things screeched and their bodies jerked violently at the high voltage coursing through their bodies, before they  _exploded_.

One of the disadvantages of Whitney power was that it drained him of energy whenever he used more than he was used to, and the blonde sunk to his knees, finally letting go of his hold on the tongues-which were the only things that still remained for the creatures.

"You okay Whit?" Clark asked, reaching out his hand.

"Yeah, ' _course_  I am." Whitney would usually use this moment to tell Clark to stop being such a sissy, so it only proved  _how_  drained he was when he only placed his hand in Clark's and let the super-strong alien help him to his feet.

Wesley and Lois were fighting back to back like a well-oiled machine, the young Slayer obviously enjoying herself in the heat of battle if her war cries and whoops had anything to say about it.

Sam was deeply concentrated in his fighting, his technique  _amazing_. He'd slice and chop and  _pulverize_  the monsters attacked him, his mind body and soul into the fight.

He was  _made_  for this.

The only time he would get a little distracted was when he'd search for her in the middle of the battle to make sure that she was fine, and once he was sure Sam's attention would return to the fight and he'd become the lean, mean, killing machine that was getting her  _really_  hot watching.

_Why does slaying ALWAYS make me horny? Is it natural? And now that Sam's here…it's gotten ten times worse!_

Chloe had noticed  _one_  of the men who'd been just innocently eating pie earlier grunting and fighting with the creatures as well. He'd picked up Whitney's fallen sword and slashed off the head of the creature charging him, and while he'd disappear in the fray of the battle he always would reappear in her line of vision.

He was- _really good_.

When two creatures raced out of the Beanery he took after them, not noticing the four going after  _him_. The guy was good, but there was  _no_  way he'd be able to take on six of those things alone.

Breathing in, Chloe hurried after them, following the sounds of fighting towards the alley, seeing the handsome sandy-haired man trapped between the six creatures.

" _Hey_!" She called out, the creatures turning to look at her. "Six against one? I  _never_  liked school-yard bullies."

"Get outta here gorgeous!" The guy called, obviously trying to protect her in his own way. "I can handle these  _punks_."

She liked his courage.

Summoning a ball of fire she threw it up in the air to better light up the dark night, smirking at the shock on both the guy's and the creatures' faces.

Chloe concentrated as her sword-hand overheated, causing the silver in her hand to turn orange like flames. This was something she'd been practicing for a while now, and was finally going to have an opportunity to try it out.

The blonde beckoned the creatures over with her finger.

The four that'd followed after the stranger roared and charged her, the two behind him would have done the same if he hadn't turned to them and blocked their advance.

"Not getting passed me, you fugly bastards." He promised as he began to fight them in the now well-lit area thanks to the green ball of fire hovering over their heads.

Chloe laughed at the cheek of the stranger before she sliced at the first of the monsters to reach her, its head sliding off with the smell of burnt skin filling the night. She put the stranger out of her mind, body going on autopilot as she dodged and swung, limbs coming off the creatures as they screamed and attacked with more fury.

Twirling out of the way of a tongue that flew towards her, Chloe stomped down on it with her heel and swung her sword, burning/cutting it off and turned in time to block the attack the creature behind her had begun while she'd had her back to it.

Shoving the burning steel into the creature's stomach, Chloe jerked it down and out, watching as the creature's guts fell out of its body before the toad-thing fell to the ground.

A scream behind her caused her to turn to see that the one she'd cut the tongue off had been about to swing at her head when a sword had pierced its heart from behind. The creature collapsed dead, and the stranger appeared from behind it, pulling the sword out.

"Thanks." She smiled, wiping at the sweat on her forehead, relaxing slightly now that they'd finished off the six in the alley, and the quiet in the air proving that the others had finished the ones in the Beanery.

"Had to even out the scores between us." He smirked, eyeing the sword. "This is really good, where did you and your friends get it?"

"Where did you learn how to use it?" Chloe countered, eyes him suspiciously. Sure he'd helped them, but  _why?_  And why hadn't he freaked out like the rest of those at the Beanery?

"Every guy's gotta have a secret, right?" The man grinned handsomely. "It adds to the essence of  _mystery_ that just brings in the ladies."

"Oh, I'm  _sure_." Chloe snorted, shaking her head before sighing. "Look, thanks for helping-even though it was stupid of you to go out alone after two of them. It was  _obviously_  a trap."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You usually insult the people you thank?"

"Nope." Chloe laughed. "Just you."

He smirked at her. "Let me introduce myself, I'm-."

" _Dean_?" A surprised voice asked from behind Chloe.

Chloe turned to see a blood-covered Sam standing behind her, eyes wide and on the stranger. The blonde gasped, turning back to  _Dean_ , suddenly realizing who he was.

" _Sammy_!" Dean  _Winchester_  smiled brightly at his younger brother, waving with one hand while resting the sword on the back of his shoulders in a leisurely way with the other. "' _Sup_  lil' bro?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Dean." Something in Sam's voice hardened slightly as he moved forwards and placed an arm around Chloe's shoulder. " _What_  are you doing here? How did you even  _know_  that I was here?"

Dean Winchester didn't lose his grin for a second- _instead_  the grin grew slightly sheepish. "Well, I  _might_ have gone to visit you the other night in your apartment in Stanford only to find new tenants.  _Really_  glad they ended up being friends of yours and didn't call the cops about the whole breaking and entering thing when they found out I was your big brother."

Chloe bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"God, you  _never_  change." Sam sighed, shaking his head slightly. "What did you want?"

"Aw  _Sammy_ , does an older brother need a  _reason_  to check up on his baby brother?" Dean asked in all innocence, but seeing the raised eyebrow his brother sent his way he sighed. "Okay, you caught me. Dad had been missing for a while and I was worried, thought something had happened to him, so I'd gone to you to ask you to come with me to go look for him.  _But_  after I was halfway to Kansas after being given directions by your friends, I got a call from dad and found out that he was still alive and kicking." His grin grew confident again. "So I decided to just continue on and see what you were doing."

"Your dad's okay?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah." Dean looked at her silently for a minute. "You  _know_  what we do, right?" He motioned around them at the dead creatures. "If Sam hasn't told you with all of  _this_ -."

"She knows," Sam interrupted, still tense.

"He told me the first day we met," Chloe admitted.

"The  _first day?_ " Dean frowned at Sam. "What happened our number one rule? The one that says: 'Don't tell anyone about what we do'?"

"When you meet someone who is hunting down escaped  _alien_  convicts,  _my_  past seemed like something outta  _Stepford,_ " Sam replied.

Dean snorted. " _Please_. Aliens do  _not_  exist." Seeing the look passed between Sam and Chloe his eyes widened. "Wait, are you  _serious_? Little green men with antennae  _exist_?"

"Well,  _actually_  most aliens I know could pass for human supermodels," Chloe admitted, grinning at his wide-eyed shock.

Dean managed to close his mouth and grinned at her. "So you an alien then, gorgeous?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow at Sam's brother in amusement.

Sam, on the other hand, was  _far_  from amused. He tightened his hold on Chloe. "Dude. She's my girlfriend. Enough already."

" _Still_  touchy I see," Dean muttered to himself before smiling at his brother. "Let me do the big brother thing and lay it on you in a brutally honest way, my little geeky brother, she is  _way_  out of your league."

Sam closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, obviously trying to calm himself.

Chloe, though, could see the truth of the matter. Dean just  _really_  liked getting a reaction out of Sam. "So you came here to check up on your brother and spent the whole time watching him from the corner of the room, the  _darkest_  corner of the room, eating  _pie_."

Dean blinked in surprise before grinning. "You  _noticed_  me."

Chloe ignored that. "You weren't going to let Sam know you were here, were you?" Deep down inside, Dean Winchester was a big softie looking out for his little brother. "You just wanted to make sure he was okay and then you were going to go."

That smile had wiped off Dean's face. "That another one of your weird little abilities? Mind reading?"

"No, I'm just observant." Chloe replied.

"How are you, Dean?" Sam's question would seem  _late_  for many people, but Chloe knew the difficult history between Sam and his family, and was proud of him for making the effort.

Dean looked shocked for a second before covering it up with that ever-present, cocky smile of his. "I'm fine. Living the life. Hunting, saving damsels, eating  _pie_." He turned to Chloe. "Changing the subject...You mind explaining how you lit up like a bonfire?"

"I'm the phoenix," Chloe admitted in a very straightforward way. She didn't see why she had to keep anything secret from Sam's brother. If she had  _her_  way he'd be  _her_  brother soon enough.

"Yeah, I recognized the costume." Dean's gaze went from her to Sam and back.

"No, she means she's  _the_  phoenix." Sam shook his head, realizing that his brother just wasn't getting it.

Dean blinked, frowning slightly. "You mean like the bird?" He turned to Sam. "Dude. You're dating a  _bird_?"

Hurried footsteps caught their attention and they turned to see Lois, Wesley, Whitney and Clark appear in the alley, all breathless and covered in blood.

"Everyone okay here?" Whitney asked, voice tired and hoarse.

"Who's he?" Clark asked as they finally noticed Dean.

"And where can  _I_ get one?" Lois murmured, blushing when she realized that she'd said it out loud.

Wesley's eyes narrowed on her.

" _Honey_ , I was only  _admiring_." Lois hurriedly tried to repair the damage. "He's only eye candy- _made_  to be looked at and not touched. But  _you_? You're touchable!  _Very_  touchable! I  _like_  touching you.  _A lot_!"

Wesley  _didn't_  look appeased.

"That would be my cousin, Lois, earning herself a night on the sofa," Chloe told Dean, who looked amused with the whole situation. "Wesley's her partner, and by them are our two friends Whitney and Clark." She turned to the others. "Everyone, this is Dean Winchester, Sam's big brother."

Wesley sighed and took off his glasses, trying to clean them with his shirt—but his shirt was just as dirty as the rest of him so there really wasn't much difference when he put them back on. "Why don't we finish this conversation in Lois and my apartment? Everyone can have a bath and change their clothes."

Sam had gotten an apartment in the same complex that Wesley and Lois had, so they were essentially neighbors. The males had announced that they'd thought it'd be a good idea since Chloe and Lois had lived with each other since they were young girls and they hadn't wanted to separated them. The girls knew though that Wesley had made sure Sam got an apartment next to him and Lois because he needed to have male moral support close by.

It wasn't easy living with Lois, it was something even  _she_  admitted to.

_Poor Wes._

While Lois, Wesley and the boys went to their apartment to wash up and change clothes (Clark and Whitney had some extra cloths there from when they'd go to Wesley and Lois' to practice with Wes), Sam and Chloe took Dean to their apartment. That way they could all wash up and Dean could borrow some of Sam's clothes.

Chloe had been allowed to shower first (one of the privileges when you were a woman), and when she'd finished Sam offered the shower and a clean pair of clothes to his brother. Dean had looked at the sweats and shrugged, heading to the bathroom to get rid of the monster blood and guts all over him.

"How'ya doing?" Chloe asked Sam as she ran the comb through her wet hair.

Sam frowned from where he stood on the wood floor. "Not sure. He's my brother and I love him, but I can't help but feel uneasy that he's here now."

"He was worried about you, Sam." Chloe sighed, putting down the comb and looking at her boyfriend. "You  _know_  he loves you, and he wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

"Intentionally." Sam agreed in his own way, looking around the apartment. "I can't believe he drove all the way to  _Kansas_."

"I'd do the same for Lo, and she for me." Chloe sar down on the sofa's armrest. "It's what families do."

"Family." Sam went to the mantelpiece and picked up the only picture he had of his family together. It'd been taken the day of his sixth month of life, the day before his mother had been murdered. The picture was faded but shone with the love in the faces of Mary and John Winchester, holding their young sons in a tight, tender and protective hold while smiling at the camera.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded. " _Family_."

They were silent after that and when Dean emerged from the bathroom, wearing one of Sam's t-shirts and rolling up the waist of the sweat pants so the legs wouldn't be so long on him, Sam nodded to his brother and went to bathe.

Dean threw himself down on the sofa whose armrest Chloe was still sitting on, looking around the apartment in appreciation. "Nice place you two have here."

"I know," Chloe agreed. "Lana will never forgive me for moving in here, but it's not like we talk much anyway."

"Lana?" Dean asked.

"Old high school acquaintance," Chloe explained, still working on the tangles in her hair. "This used to be an old theatre her parents met in and bought to commemorate their love. They were killed in the meteor shower and her aunt Nell used it as a flower shop, but the building was falling to pieces and during a fight the gang and I had a couple of months ago with the freak of the week, the place kind of  _blew up_."

"Blew up," Dean echoed, grinning at how she worded that so carelessly.

" _Kaboom,_ " Chloe emphasized, shaking her head and wincing when she managed to pull at her hair. "Well, Lana was devastated, she kinda had the place as a shrine to her parents. And then Lex Luthor, the resident billionaire bad-boy turned responsible role-citizen offered to buy the remains of it from her Aunt Nell to build apartments."

Dean motioned around him with his hand.

"Exactly." Chloe finished detangling her shoulder-length hair and put the comb down on her lap. "So from what I've been told, Lana tried her best to convince Lex to rebuild the Talon-the name of the theater—and return it to its former glory. How I hear it, Lex scolded her about sentimentality and challenged her to change his mind. She couldn't. The next week bulldozers had torn down the remains of the Talon and this apartment complex was built in its stead."

"Poor girl." Dean chuckled.

"Yeah." Chloe replied without much conviction as the bathroom door opened and Sam emerged from the steam like a god-a shirtless god-a shirtless god with a  _six pack_.

She was staring, she  _knew_  she was staring, but Chloe just couldn't  _stop_.

Where had Sam been  _hiding_  those muscles all these years?

The brunet looked up and smiled sheepishly at her. "Forgot to take in a shirt."

She was  _not_  complaining. " _Oh_." Was that squeak her voice?

The blonde nearly fell off of the armrest as she leaned back in an effort to not lose sight of that  _marvelous_  figure when Sam went to the bedroom.

Dean snickered.

She returned her attention to him, blushing madly, having forgotten that the other brother was there. "What?"

"You're really in love with my brother, aren't you?" Dean asked, smiling at her.

"Yeah." Chloe smiled right back at him, warming to the topic. "He's a great guy, the best I know." She pointed to the promise ring she never took off. "He slaved for  _two_  weeks to buy this for my seventeenth birthday, but I thought he was having an affaire with this girl, so I broke up with him—wouldn't talk to him to let him explain."

"Ouch." Dean winced.

"I know." She always felt guilty every time she remembered that time in her life. "So Sam comes to Smallville to talk to me-but I'd gone to L.A. to help a friend. With my dad's help Sam figures out where I am and goes to  _L.A._ , and corners me and everything comes out."

Dean was silent, observing her.

"I can't tell you how shocked I was when he gave it to me," Chloe admitted, twisting the ring on her finger with a soft smile. "It was the happiest day in my life. Not only did I find out that he  _hadn't_  found someone else, but he  _committed_  to me."

"We should probably get over to Wes and Lo's." Sam's voice said from behind them, and both on the sofa turned to see in surprise that Sam was leaning against the bedroom door, arms folded over his chest, smiling at them.

"Just a minute." Chloe stood, going to the bedroom to grab her cellular. Dialing the number despite how late it was, Chloe closed the bedroom door and listened to the ringing.

"This  _better_  be important." A voice groaned on the other side of the line when it was finally answered. "Its  _three in the morning_!"

"Lorne." Chloe spoke, feeling guilty and a little nervous. "It's me, Chloe."

" _Apple pie_?" Lorne was surprised and suddenly completely awake. "It's been  _forever_  since we saw each other last. How are you doing? What am I saying? You're calling at  _three in the morning_ , something must have happened. Do you need me to call Angel?"

"No," Chloe was quick to clarify. "I need to talk to you." She sat down on the bed and told the green empathy demon about all that'd happened since last they'd spoken. She told him about her dreams, of  _Sam's_  dreams, and of the visions. "How good are you at doing readings over phones?" She finished. "I was planning on driving over with Sam, but his brother appeared and they haven't seen each other in  _forever_ and I don't want to be the reason their reunion is short-lived."

"I completely understand," Lorne responded. "And I wouldn't want you around here at this time either, it's so  _stressful_. So many things have happened here, and they have Angelcake in a tiffy. And Spike's being here isn't helping at all."

"Spike?" Chloe frowned, in confusion. "I thought he died saving the world?"

"He  _did_." Lorne made an annoyed sound. "And now he's  _here_  in ghost-form. The big-guy's about to go insane with Spike around."

"A vampire-ghost." Chloe shook her head. "Our lives are never boring, huh?"

"Amen and hallelujah." Lorne sighed. "So, put on Sammykins so I can try reading him."

"Thanks Lorne." Chloe placed her hand over the receiver and called out. "Sam? Can you come in here a minute?"

"Coming!" Sam called out, hurrying to the room and entering it, closing the door behind him. "What's wrong?"

"Sing for Lorne," the blonde ordered, thrusting the phone in his direction.

Sam raised an eyebrow at her before taking the phone and clearing his throat. "Hello Lorne, how are you doing? … Sorry to hear that. … Yeah, I have, but the vision is a new thing. … It hurt like  _hell_." Taking in a deep breath Sam nodded and then turned his back to Chloe as he began a shaky rendition of a song Chloe had never heard before.

When he was finally finished he turned to face Chloe once more, face red from embarrassment, listening intently to what Lorne was saying. "Uhuh…" He shook his head, going to sit next to his girlfriend, mostly silent, only making sounds of acknowledgement when needed. "Yes, thank you, it was nice talking to you too Lorne." He then passed the phone back to Chloe.

"Lorne?" Chloe asked when Sam refused to say anything.

"Oh my sugarplum, the good news is that you found your connection," Lorne announced. "Bad news? There's some big ugly connected to the  _both_  of you and it will be causing some trouble for you in the near future. You two need to get closer because something is going to happen  _soon_."

"Big ugly how? Like what?" Chloe asked, standing, sharing a look with Sam.

"I don't know-it's something connected to both his past and that of his brother's," Lorne muumbled, shivering. "All I got was a case of the heebee-jeebees and glowing yellow eyes."

Yellow eyes?

Why did that sound familiar?

"He'd do good to make peace with his dad and brother too," Lorne added. "You'll be needing their help to defeat this thing,  _whatever_  it is."

"Thanks, Lorne." Chloe smiled. "If it ever gets too much for you at  _Evil Inc._  remember you have a place here."

"Oh, you're always so sweet." Lorne chuckled with tender regard. "Now get some rest cinnamon-bun, okay? We both need our beauty rest. And call again soon, I miss talking to you. Just-call during the  _day_ next time."

Chloe smiled. "Will do. Bye." Hanging up, Chloe turned to Sam, face serious. "Can you think of anything with yellow eyes in your past? A demon you failed to get rid of and has a grudge, or a monster, or something?"

"No." Sam shook his head. "Ever since Lorne told me about that I've been trying to go over a list of things of what it could be but I can't come up with anything. I'll ask Dean later if he remembers anything with that description."

"I'll talk to Wesley as well. What I don't get is how it can be connected to us  _both_."

They were silent before Sam sighed. "We should go, everyone's waiting on us."

"Okay." Chloe nodded, before grinning. "I wonder if Wesley's forgiven Lo yet."

* * *

 

"So let me get this straight." Dean Winchester said slowly, looking at the members of the ragtag team. "You're a  _Slayer_  who's going out with an ex- _watcher_." He pointed from Lois to Wesley before turning to Whitney and Clark. " _You_  are a meteor freak and  _you_  are an alien." He then turned to Chloe and Sam. " _You_ are a  _Phoenix_  and Sam is your connection to these Powers That Be…" He paused. "Is that everything or am I forgetting something?"

"No, that's about it." Whitney looked amused with Dean's shock. "We're weird, huh?"

"I grew up killing monsters," Dean answered, still shaking his head in amazement. "Who am  _I_  to judge?"

"So, are you planning on staying long?" Clark asked curiously.

Dean paused for a second before shaking his head. "Nah. I'm a man of the open road. There's still a lot out there that I have to hunt, more damsels in need of saving." He grinned in Chloe and Sam's direction. "Since I met Chloe here I can go in peace knowing that she'll keep my brother safe and sound."

Sam sighed.

Dean frowned. "Plus, I have to meet up with dad and see if he knows anything about this  _yellow eyed_  guy Sam's friend was talking about." He made a face. "Not that I trust  _anything_  a demon says."

"There are good and bad demons in this world." Lois narrowed her eyes at Dean. "You're just going to have to get that in your head. Lorne is one of the good ones. We trust him."

"And that's  _your_  deal.  _I_  never met a demon who didn't need exorcising or a monster that didn't need killing." Dean pressed  _his_  point.

"Getting back to the topic." Wesley pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'm most intrigued by this description. 'Yellow eyes and heebee-jeebees.' It's not much to go on, but I'll go through my texts as well and see if I can find anything. I'll call Rupert too, maybe  _he_  has heard of something similar."

"If there's anyone who'll find it it'll be  _you_  baby," Lois gushed. She'd been kissing up to Wesley desperately the whole night, trying to redeem herself for that comment in the alley. "You're the smartest guy I know."

"Yes, I remember," Wesley commented in a flat voice. "'Demon-hunting  _nerd_ ' was the term she used, right Sam?"

Lois flinched.

Sam had no compassion at  _all_  on Lois. "Yeah. Those were her words  _exactly_."

"While I would enjoy  _nothing better_  than watching Lane squirm after all she's put me through the last couple of days," Whitney started as he stood and winced slightly in pain. "I have work to get to tomorrow and it's already  _five_  in the morning, which means I have only  _two_  hour of sleep."

The blonde winced, his body still sore from the excess use of his powers. "Damn. I forgot I drove Lane and Wes's car for them."

Clark looked up, standing up as well. "I'll take you home. I came in the pickup, and I should be getting home anyway. I have to do stuff around the farm later."

Whitney eyed Clark suspiciously before snorting and accepting the offer. "Okay. Let's get out of here." He made a step towards the door and nearly toppled over, only managing to keep standing through his strong self-will. "Dammit, my body's gone cold." Which meant that he was feeling  _all_  the aches and pains from the strain of forcing his powers.

Clark was by his side, worried, hand on his back. "Dammit Whit, you shouldn't have forced your powers so much tonight. You  _knew_ you'd be like this." He looked so  _annoyed_  with the blonde. "Maybe you shouldn't go to work tomorrow. Stay in bed and take it easy, I'll call Mister Miller and let him know you-."

"Will you  _stop_  it already Kent?" Whitney snapped, shaking off Clark's hand. "I am not  _Lana_. I don't  _need_  to be protected and coddled and reassured and looked after every single minute of the day! I am  _not_  weak, and I'm  _not_ your girlfriend, so stop acting as if I were!" He glared dangerously at the taller boy. "Honestly, I could  _electrocute_ you sometimes! You're so damned  _annoying_!" And with that the young blonde stalked away, banging the door closed behind him.

Clark looked after him in confusion. "What does  _Lana_  have to do with anything?" He seemed to ask himself as he shook his head, waved goodbye to the others, and hurried out after the other male.

"Are those two…?" Dean asked, looking after them.

"No." Wesley shook his head. "But sometimes they make one wonder."

"Is it me, or was that the first time Whitney has  _ever_  said anything negative-sounding about Lana?" Lois wanted to know.

"Clark didn't exactly defend her either." Chloe was just as shocked.

"As  _fascinating_ as those observations might be, we should be going to bed too." Sam got up, pulling a groaning Chloe with him. "See you guys later."

They returned to their apartment and after making sure that Dean was comfortable on the sofa (which was also a pull-out bed), Sam and Chloe went to their bedroom. Chloe was nervous as hell as she changed into a large shirt, although she doubted  _either_  of them would do anything with Dean right outside.

Still, this was monumental, this was going to be the first time she slept in  _their_  apartment.

Getting into bed, pulling the sheets up around her, Chloe waited until a  _shirtless_  (gulp) Sam entered the bed before turning off the light. "Good night." She whispered before his lips touched hers in the darkness.

"Good night." Sam whispered against her lips.

A little embarrassed, Chloe turned her back to Sam, smiling slightly when he spooned her from behind, his arm going around her waist, keeping her pinned comfortably against him.

" _Welcome home,_ " he whispered in her ear before drifting off to sleep.

That smile grew on her face as all embarrassment left her and Chloe closed her eyes in peace.

 _Home_.

She was  _home_.


	5. Chapter 5

The incessant ringing of the doorbell woke Chloe up. The blonde groaned, turning in bed and frowning when she saw Sam's side empty and a note on the pillow.

_Dean and I went out for a little  chat, and I promised to show him around Smallville. Will be back soon. Love you-you look beautiful as you sleep._

Groaning at the thought of him watching her while she snored and drooled, Chloe dragged herself out of the bed and somehow got herself to the door. "I'm coming already! Stop ringing!" Feeling sympathy Lorne for what she'd done to him earlier that morning, Chloe looked through the peephole, blinked in surprised, and looked through again just to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating the view on the other side of the door.

Opening the door, hair still messed from sleep, Chloe stared at the person on her doorstep. " _Lana_? What are you doing here? How did you know I lived here? I only moved in  _last night._ " She could suddenly understand Sam's surprise with seeing Dean the night before.

"Chloe, can I please come in?" Lana looked around, nervous. "I really need to talk to you. I need your help."

Confused and intrigued, Chloe stepped out of the way and watched as Lana looked around with a shake of her head before turning to Chloe, eyes wide and frightened.

"Adam tried to kill me."

Well, to be truthful, it was only a matter of time before it happened. Lana's boyfriends had a tendency of either going insane and trying to kill her before getting killed themselves, or going insane and trying to kill her and ending up in Belle Reeve.

Clark and Whitney had to have been the only ones to have survived the Curse of the Lang-and that was probably because they'd been dumped before it could take root in them.

Of course, Chloe didn't point this out to the terrified brunette. "Adam tried to  _kill_  you."

"Yes!" Lana cried, looking around her as if expecting him to jump out at her. "I don't know  _why_! We were fine until last night with the attack of those  _things_! He got bitten by one and this morning I get out of the bathroom and find him in my room talking nonsense about eggs and fertilization and eternal life!" She ran her fingers through her hair. "Then he tried to stab me with this dagger! I only got away because Aunt Nell called that she was going to work and he got distracted. I hit him over the head with my piggy bank and made a run for it!"

Chloe blinked, leaning against the wall, arms folded over her chest.

Even for  _Lana_  that was interesting.

Then again, she  _had_  had bug-boy after her.

And a guy who'd eaten his own mother was  _really_  hard to beat.

"And you came here to me and not the police because…" She wasn't being mean or rude, Chloe was honestly curious.

"Because this isn't  _normal_  or  _meteor related_  and the two of us know it." Lana's face went serious, conflict in her dark eyes. "This is  _supernatural_ , like, like, like that de-de-de- _thing_  that k-k-k, that  _hurt_  me." She took in a deep breath. "The police won't be able to do anything, but you and your group will be able to do something, and you're the  _leader_ , so that's why I came to you."

"Actually, I'm not the leader anymore," Chloe admitted, noticing how relieved she sounded as she said that. She'd never liked the position but had had to be leader because Lois wouldn't have it and Clark thought himself insufficient for the job, but now that Wesley had joined them Chloe had turned the leadership of the team to him happily.

"Chloe, I need _help_." Lana ignored that, pleading, voice trembling. "Something must have infected Adam after he got bitten last nigh and now he wants to  _kill_  me! You have to un-infect him or something!"

Hanging her head with a deep intake of breath, Chloe pushed away from the wall. "Let me bathe and we'll go over to Wes and Lois'. Wes is our new leader, and he might know what happened to Adam and if there's a reversal."

"Thank you, Chloe!" Lana cried out, eyes shining.

"No problem, Lana." Chloe responded as she went to bathe.

* * *

 

"It was only a matter of time," Lois announced without remorse as she sat with Wesley, Chloe and Lana in the living room after the whole story had come out of the scared young woman in their midst. "What  _is_  it with you and picking psychopaths?"

" _Lois_." Wesley apparently still hadn't gotten over his resentment at her comment the night before, turning to Lana, the woman near tears. "Are you alright, Ms. Lang? Were you hurt during the attack?"

"N-no." Lana shook her head, looking up at him, wiping at the tears that were now falling freely down her cheeks. "I was more frightened than anything else. He was just  _there_  and trying to  _kill_  me."

"I can imagine how traumatic the experience must have been for you." The Brit placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But know that you are safe now. We will not let anything happen to you, Ms. Lang. You are  _safe_."

Lana looked up into his eyes silently, mouth open slightly, before she suddenly began to blush and ducked her gaze.

Lois growled in the background.

Chloe looked at her cousin nervously, seeing Lois glaring angrily at Lana.

"Ms. Lang, do you like tea?" Wesley asked the curious question.

"Uh,  _yes_ , actually." She chanced another glance up. "I like to drink a cup every night while I'm reading before I go to bed."

"Really?" He grinned. "So do I. Would you like some Earl Grey? I only keep the finest and it  _will_  help calm you."

"Earl Grey's my favorite, actually." Lana smiled shyly at him.

"Mine as well." Wesley's smile was more genuine now before he turned to Chloe and a seething Lois. "Chloe, get into contact with Sam and Dean, tell them to keep an eye out for anything suspicious going around while they're in town." He turned to Lois. "Call Clark and Whitney, inform them of the situation." He stood and offered a hand to Lana, who looked at it in surprise and placed hers in his, smiling at him. "Ms. Lang and I will be in the kitchen making  _tea_." And with that he turned and lead Lana to the kitchen, the last words they could hear were: "Could you describe the dagger he used to attack you with in more detail?"

Lois snarled, eyes dark and narrowed in their direction. "She is  _not_  getting her claws into _my_  Wesley!" The brunette hissed as she stood and began to pace in front of the sofa. "Can you believe her? The last guy she made insane is not even dead  _or_  in Belle Reeve yet and she's  _already_  looking for her next victim!"

" _Lois_ …" Chloe decided it was best to tread this lightly. "Lana isn't going to go after Wesley, and even if she did, he'd never give her the time of day. He  _loves_  you."

"He's  _mad_  at me!" Lois turned to Chloe before collapsing in the seat with desperation and a little cry. "I let my big mouth get the better of me last night and-Wesley's never held anything against me this long! He  _knows_  I have no filter between my brain and mouth! I say what I think! I might have been admiring some strange guy, yeah, but I  _love_   **him**!" She pointed towards the kitchen sullenly. "And now she's  _blushing_ around him. What kind of guy do you know of who has  _ever_  been able to withstand the famous Lang blushes and coy glances?"

"Lois…" Chloe tried.

"And she drinks  _tea_? And  _reads_?" Lois continued on, ignoring her cousin. "I  _hate_  tea and I  _hate_  to read. I'll wait for the movie to be made before I'll sit down and  _read_." The brunette looked down at her feet. "And Lang is so  _feminine_."

Chloe remained silent because one thing someone could  _not_  accuse Lois about being was  _feminine_.

"Who do you think his hoity-toity family would like better? Huh?" Lois wanted to know. "A soft, gentle, feminine girl who likes tea and reading before bedtime? Or a brash, difficult, out-spoken woman who likes to kick ass and argue? Who  _hates_  classical music, jazz, the blues, and thinks that Shakespeare spoke a language that wasn't English-Or  _human._ "

" _Lois_." Chloe was surprised. She hadn't realized that this had bothered Lois so much, but obviously these were insecurities the other girl had had for a while now.

"Wes is so  _refined_ , Chlo, sometimes I don't know  _what_  he's doing with me." Lois sniffled, bottom lip trembling. "I just can't help but wait for him to wake up and wonder why I'm sleeping next to him."

"That's stupid." Green eyes narrowed. "Wes is  _crazy_  about you, and nothing is going to change that, no even  _Lana_."

Lois wiped at her eyes and grabbing her phone. "I should call Smallville and Whitney."

Knowing that this was her cousin's way of saying that she wasn't up to continuing the conversation, Chloe sighed and grabbed her phone to call Sam and let him know about the situation.

* * *

 

"Well,  _that_  explains it." Sam muttered as he pressed the 'end' button on his phone and turned to Dean, who was still sulking at how Adam Knight had been able to knock him out so easily.

" _What_  explains what?" The elder Winchester winced at the pain in his head.

"Adam, the guy who turned out your lights," Sam couldn't help but grin slightly at the glare his brother sent him. "Is somehow infected with something from the attack last night. Chloe just said that he tried to kill his girlfriend this morning and was talking about eggs, fertilization, and eternal life or something."

"You're saying the teenage mutant  _toads_  somehow did that to the guy?" Dean asked, making a face as he obviously remembered the odd glassy look in Adam's face. "Well, it explains how quick and strong he was- _and_  the sick green tint on his skin."

Sam nodded, frowning slightly. "But what's all this about eggs, fertilization, and eternal life?"

"Maybe he just wanted to mate with the chick?" Dean shrugged, not as interested as he probably should be.

"No. I doubt it." Sam frowned, running his fingers through his hair. "He tried to kill her, she said something about a dagger. Why didn't he use a dagger on you or me but only her?"

"I don't know." Dean was impatient. "Maybe she was a sucky girlfriend."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Or maybe he needs to kill  _her_  with this dagger as a part of the requirement for eternal life."

"But where do  _eggs_  and  _fertilization_ fit in the whole deal?" Dean wanted to know.

Sam frowned. "I don't know, but something's nagging at the back of my brain. It's like a should  _know_ this _."_

"Wow, geek-boy doesn't know it all!" Dean taunted in a brotherly fashion before suddenly growing serious again. "Come on, we should try and find this Adam Knight guy before he tries to hurt anyone else."

Sam nodded.

* * *

 

Clark Kent had warned his parents the moment he got the call from Lois. After making sure that his ma and pa were safely in their home (and that Jonathan Kent had his faithful shotgun by his side) the alien had hopped into the beat-up pickup and began to drive towards town.

Moments like these made him angry with himself for having given up his powers. If he hadn't he'd be in town in a second and he'd have been able to not only find Adam Knight but subdue him until authorities or people from Belle Reeve could come and get him.

 _But you gave your powers up voluntarily, Kent_. His conscience sounded freakily like a taunting Whitney.  _Be a man and get over it_.

Taking in a deep breath he slowed his pace, keeping his blue gaze out at the vast countryside around them. Adam could be  _anywhere_ , and they needed to keep an eye out for him, not to overlook  _anywhere_.

He wasn't too worried about getting into town because Sam, Dean and Whitney were there, so between the three of them they should have the place covered.

It was his job to make sure that Adam  _was_  in town, and  _not_  escaping. They couldn't let him get out of Smallville, not without knowing what his condition was and what his plans were.

What had that bite done to him? And why only to  _him_?

Many of the people who'd been at the Beanery last night had been bitten, but none of  _them_  were homicidal and insane today.

Only  _Adam_.

Which  _really_  made Clark wonder about what Lois and Chloe liked to refer to (when they thought he couldn't hear or just wasn't listening) as 'The Curse of the Lang'.

Apparently his two best friends believed that either Lana had been cursed, or her meteor powers were to turn all of her boyfriends insane after she'd been with them after a certain amount of time. 'Exposure' Lois called it.

Clark had always scoffed at the thought, and wanted to defend his ex, but now he really had to  _think_  about it. Every single boyfriend Lana had had-minus him and Whitney-and most of the guys who'd been in love with her, had turned out  _insane_. No, actually,  _all_  of them had turned out insane and had either died or had their own little straight-jacket and room in Belle Reeve.

Clark would always love Lana, at least a tiny little bit of him always would-he'd given up his powers and his destiny for her to live-and so he had to be truthful and say that it wasn't his bitterness at their parting speaking. As he'd said, he'd always love her in some way, and some part of him wished that they could have at least stayed friends after their breakup-but there was no denying it anymore.

Lana Lang either made her boyfriends go completely  _homicidally bonkers_ , or she just attracted the criminally insane, and since Clark and Whitney had been two of the attracted the alien was loathed to admit that it was most probably the former.

But what could it be?

During  _their_  relationship Lana had been a little needy and clingy, yeah, but otherwise she'd been an exceptionally great girlfriend. She'd been sweet, kind, understanding and always with a smile on her face. She'd been Clark's definition of  _perfection_ , especially after she'd stopped wearing that meteor-rock necklace that'd always made him feel sick while around her…

So what was it about her that seemed to set off all of her boyfriends?

Maybe it  _was_  a meteor power she had. Maybe it attracted other meteor males and exposure to it over a certain amount of time would set them crazy or something.

That was the best thing that Clark could come up with while concentrating on the green scenery around him.

A sigh escaped his lips as he wondered how many more of Lana's boyfriends he was going to have to hunt down in his lifetime.

* * *

 

Despite having gotten the call and knowing that there was  _another_  insane and homicidal boyfriend of Lana's on the loose, Whitney had been unable to leave his job in the sports store he worked at. The fact annoyed him but the store was underemployed at the moment,  _and_  the team  _did_  have Dean with them, so the ex-quarterback was almost sure everything was going to be alright and no one was going to truly miss his involvement.

Still, he was annoyed about having to tend to customers while Adam was out there and on the loose attacking innocent civilians.

He didn't think it was fair that he had to be stuck here, safely in the store while his friends and comrades were out there probably facing Adam-but that was before the object of his thoughts entered the store.

Whitney froze in surprise, making a face at how different Adam looked from the night before. His skin had a pale green pallor to it and  _smelt_  as if he were decaying while he stood. The tall man slumped, making him look shorter than he truly was, and he walked oddly, as if he was  _uncomfortable_ , like his feet were painful.

But his eyes were what kept Whitney's gaze. Those once blue eyes were now a deep red, as if all the blood in his body had drained into his eyes.

Whitney looked around the shop, glad that his coworker was out to lunch and that not one customer was in at the moment.

This could only get  _ugly_.

"You know, you should  _really_  work out more, Knight," Whitney announced, taking a step towards him, chin raised defiantly, mouth a cheeky smirk. "You look  _awful_."

Adam Knight's gaze swung towards him, those blood eyes narrowing as he smirked. "You."

Whitney's smirk disappeared as he realized that he'd been singled out. "What do you want?"

Adam's arm with the ugly, infected-looking bite-mark, reached for the dagger he'd had hanging from a hunter-style belt resting around his lean hips. " _You_."

By now, creeped out and annoyed perfectly described how Whitney felt. He clenched his fists, feeling energy cackling in his fingers. Despite the fact that he was still weak and in pain from last night he continued to draw more electricity, not about to go down with a damned good fight.

"Stay the  _hell_  away from me, Knight." Whitney took in a deep breath, not understanding why he felt so  _uneasy_. He'd fought before, and sometimes by himself, but for some reason he felt slightly  _terrified_  right now.

Adam moved faster than a blink of an eye, flinging the dagger at Whitney.

Drawing upon the power in his hands, Whitney outstretched his hand and electricity jolted out of it like a hand, gripping the dagger in mid air and flinging it away from the young blonde man, who was both drained and  _shocked_  that he could do that.

He turned to Adam but found that the man was gone, had used the distraction to move, and Whitney felt that terror growing in the pit of his stomach for no good reason.

" _You_."

Turning around Whitney didn't have time to send a flash of lightning at Adam before the taller, older man vomited on his face a see-through and thick, glue-like substance. The thing hardened around his face like quick drying cement, and while Whitney clawed at it desperately he found it wasn't budging-and he couldn't breathe.

His lungs pained from his desperate breaths, and dots danced over his eyes before darkness consumed and his knees collapsed beneath him.

* * *

 

Lana Lang looked up at Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and wondered why she'd never noticed him before. He was handsome, intelligent,  _charming_ , and so very  _attentive_. He'd taken her under his wing ever since she's arrived earlier and she had to admit that she felt safer with him than she had even with Clark Kent.

"There has to be  _something_  in these books." Wesley announced, speaking more to himself than her.

They were the only ones in the apartment. Lois and Chloe had left to join the patrol of Smallville for Adam, and Lana had stayed with Wesley while he went over his books looking for some idea as to what exactly had happened to Adam.

Lana sighed as she looked up from one of the books she was going through, trying to help Wesley investigate. Things hadn't been going well with her and Adam for months now, and while she  _had_  been about to break up with him—wanted to tell him that she didn't want to be with him anymore—she hadn't wanted something like  _this_  to happen to him.

Plus, she hadn't really thought he was  _that_  into her either.

"I found them!" Wesley announced, face lighting up in excitement as his blue gaze turned to her.

 _He's_ _ **really**_ _handsome_. Lana blinked at the fluttering of her heart.

"I found the toad creatures from last night!" Wesley marched on, pointing the text and then reading it. "They're called  _Marboli_  demons and they usually dwell close to Hellmouths, deep underground, and only come up-." He frowned. "They usually only come up and attack when they sense an apocalypse on the rise."

"A— _apocalypse_?" Lana gasped. All of a sudden the whole thing with Adam didn't seem so urgent.

Wesley frowned, taking in a deep breath. "This is worse than we thought." He continued to read in silence before opening his eyes. "Oh."

" _Oh_?" Lana asked.

Oh's were  _never_  good.

"It would seem, that they cannot survive long up above the ground, and will choose a vessel-or  _Adam_  in this case-to fulfill whatever it is they couldn't do while they were above ground."

"And whatever it is it has to do with eggs and fertilization." Lana deduced slowly.

Wesley nodded gravely. "I will have to call Rupert once more. We  _are_  talking about a probable  _apocalypse_ , and he has had more experience in stopping them than I have."

Lana's eyes widened.

Wesley made it sound as if apocalypses nearly happened  _all the time_!

The door to the apartment suddenly flung open, Clark hurrying inside. He didn't even look at Lana as he strode to Wesley. "Adam has Whitney." He put down the blade that Adam had had that morning on the desk. "I stopped by his workplace and there were signs of a fight, along with  _this_  stuck in the wall."

Lois, Chloe, Sam and a very handsome sandy-haired blonde entered right after Clark. Obviously they'd all either met downstairs or Clark had called them when he'd found out about Whitney being taken and they'd all hurried back to the apartment to figure out what to do now.

Wesley sat down, eyes wide. "This cannot be good."

"What would Adam want Whitney for?" Lois wanted to know, worry in her eyes. "I thought he wanted the Pink Princess dead."

Lana narrowed her eyes at the taller brunette.

"Adam is the vessel of the Maroli demons, he's doing their bidding, so  _they_  are the ones who want Whitney,  _not_  Adam." Wesley replied, running his hand over his head. "Whatever it is for it will  _not_  be good."

"Do you think it has something to do with the a-apocalypse?" Lana asked, turning to Wesley, shivering slightly.

He nodded.

"Wait a second." The sandy-haired handsome young man who Lana had never seen before spoke up. " _Apocalypse_?"

"Apparently the Marboli demons only live around  _Hellmouths_  and only come above ground when they sense an apocalypse on the rise." Wesley sighed, nodding once more.

"Hellmouth?" Sam asked, his hand going to Chloe's shoulder immediately drawing her to him protectively. "Are you saying that on top of  _everything_  weird about Smallville thanks to the meteors-it's a  _hellmouth_  as  _well_?"

"I  _know_." Wesley scoffed, looking so  _annoyed_ and  _tired_.

"Well, that explains the dreams." Chloe said to herself, before wincing when everyone turned to her expectantly. "I've been having  _dreams_  lately, from the Oracles, that told me that I couldn't leave Smallville to live in California with Sam." She took in a deep breath. "They must have  _known_  an apocalypse was about to happen or  _could_  happen and I needed to be  _here_."

The group was silent.

Clark looked at everyone before frowning and speaking. "How do we get Whit back?"

"We don't know where this Adam dude would have taken him," The cute stranger responded.

"Actually…" Lana spoke, a little embarrassed as their attention turned to her. "If these  _demons_  are controlling him and they live underground,  _I'd_  think that Adam would look for somewhere he'd feel comfortable in, safe in. Something like what  _they_  live in. Someplace humid, dark,  _underground_."

Lois' eyes widened.

But Chloe beat her to the chase. "The  _caves_."


	6. Chapter 6

Gasping, Whitney's eyes widened and he tried to jolt up into a sitting position but realized that this hands and feet were bound…and he was plastered against the ceiling of a cave.

For a moment he was disoriented, confused. How had he gotten himself in this situation?

And then he noticed Adam Knight heaving in one of the darker corners of the cave, something vile and putrid souring the air as the once handsome man bent over, hands around his stomach, as he retched violently.

Disgust flared in Whitney as he realized that someone who was decaying right before his very eyes had captured him. Really, was he  _that_  weak and drained that this  _walking corpse_  had been so able to disable him?

Then again, the vomit to the face  _had_  been a surprise attack, but Whitney couldn't forgive himself for falling so easily for it.

" _Knight_." He growled, struggling against his glue-like bonds. "What the  _hell_  are you doing with me?"

Adam ignored him until he finished vomiting, straightening as if it were painful, before running his hand under his mouth and looking up at him with a sneer. "They chose you. You should be honored."

Whitney wasn't feeling honored at all. "Who are  _they_  and what do they want?" It would be better to keep Adam talking and delay whatever it was that was planned.

The one thing that Whitney had learnt after joining the gang was that villains liked to monologue. They could go on and on and  _on_  for hours about their plans and how they were going to get away with every single one. Villains' inability to stop talking once they'd started was really what had given the gang so much time to do what had to be done to defeat the baddie of the week.

"My masters, of course. The Marboli." Adam announced, looking disgusted that he had to explain this. "They offered me eternal life by their side, and salvation from the apocalypse if I did this for them. And I accepted."

Whitney frowned.  _Apocalypse_?

His horror must have shown on his face, because Adam chortled before breaking out into violent coughs. Once he was able to stop coughing, Adam cleared his throat and continued. "Yes, I felt the same way when I realized there was an apocalypse on the way. So you see, I did what I had to do to ensure my survival."

"You call  _that_  survival?" Whitney wanted to know, shaking his head. "You're a dead man standing."

Adam hissed at him.

Apparently he'd struck a nerve.

"So, you wanna tell me  _why_  your 'masters' wanted you to vomit on me and plaster me against the roof of a cave?" Whitney wanted to know struggling with his binds subtly, trying to find their weakness.

"The apocalypse is coming and they need to ensure the survival of their eggs." Adam leaned heavily against the wall, as if desperate to rest but determined not to show it. "I am the guardian of the eggs, and you, you will be the  _father_."

Whitney froze. "Huh?"

"The Marboli demons are all  _female,_ " Adam replied evenly. "They need males of  _other_  species to fertilize their eggs."

Whitney's eyes widened. "Those fugly bastards were  _female_?" He totally missed the part about fertilization. "I can't believe it!"

"It is  _surprising_." Adam chuckled before raising an eyebrow at Whitney. "And apparently your show of power impressed them. The eggs take on the strengths of the father, which is why they chose  _you_."

Whitney paled, suddenly remembering that part. "Wait a sec. When you say  _father_ …"

"Don't worry Whitney." Adam sneered. "Marboli demons' eggs are only fertilized by  _blood_. You won't have to touch any of the demonesses, I'm just going to slice you open and drain you dry."

"And to think, for a moment, I was worried," Whitney muttered to himself. "What about Lana?" He asked when Adam had taken a step towards him. " _She_  obviously couldn't  _father_  these eggs, so why did you try to kill her this morning?"

"So you heard about that." Adam paused before answering the question. "To obtain eternal life and  _youth_ , I need to stab her through the heart with the blade I lost during our little fight, and bathe in her blood."

"Why  _her_?" Whitney was curious.

"I don't know." Adam admitted. "They never specified and I never asked."

"Oh." Whitney responded.

Adam nodded and smirked. "Now, if you don't have any more questions, let's get right to the killing."

And then a large boulder flew at him from the right and smashed him against the wall, killing him instantly.

"Talk about being between a rock and a hard place." Whitney blinked, looking at the Adam-pancake that now oozed blood and other liquids as his body was smashed to smithereens. The blonde turned in the direction the boulder had come from, not surprised to see Clark Kent brushing his hands. " _That_  was anticlimactic."

Kent looked up at him and grinned. "Hey Whit. How's it hanging?"

Whitney narrowed his eyes at that. "Funny, Kent. Now  _get me down_."

"By  _god_." Wesley announced as he and the others arrived behind Clark, looking up at Whitney. "How the  _devil_ did you get up there?"

"Don't ask me." Whitney struggled some more, but whatever Adam had used to keep him plastered to the ceiling was  _strong_. "Just  _get me down_."

As Chloe used her fire to burn away the see-through plaster holding him to the ceiling of the caves, Whitney informed everyone of what Adam had told him.

"So that lets us know two things," Lois announced as Whitney felt the plaster around him beginning to liquefy and  _melt_  at the heat of Chloe's flames. " _One_  is that the Pink Princess is no longer in danger and can get her  _ass_  out of our lives again." She seemed chirpy at that revelation. "And  _two_  - there are eggs somewhere in here. We have to find them and destroy them before their mamas realize that their vessel has become a waffle."

"I agree with Lois." Wesley nodded, placing an arm around her shoulder without even seeming to realize it, but the look on the Slayer's face surprised Whitney.

It was  _elated_ , as if that little touch from the watcher could make her life so much brighter.

 _I wonder if there was trouble in paradise_.

He suddenly gave a cry as the plaster holding him melted away into nothing and then he was falling through the air-and landing in Clark Kent's arms.

For a second Whitney was dizzy and disoriented, and then he suddenly realized  _where_  he was a gave a little cry, flinging himself out of Kent's arms as fast as he could.

"Your welcome." Since when did Clark smirk so much anyway? It was annoying.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Whitney brushed himself off, going to stand next to Chloe. "So, where are Sam, Dean, and Lana?"

Chloe made a face. "Lana obviously wasn't going to come, Adam  _did_  try to kill her after all." She looked down to her feet. "And right before we left Sam started having a vision." Worry crossed her green orbs. "Dean offered to stay behind and look after the both of them."

"You could've stayed too you know." Whitney told her. "I'd have understood it."

She smiled up at him. "Sam was fine. You  _weren't_. And I look after my family."

"You're such a mama-bear." Whitney grinned, placing his arm around her and then wincing. Now that the adrenaline was gone from his body he was being reminded of the agony in his muscles and joints from exertion of power. "I think I'm going to faint."

And then everything went black.

_Again._

* * *

 

They'd found the millions of eggs in a deeper chamber of the cave and Chloe had used her power to set them all on fire. It'd taken a lot of her power to consume the  _whole_  chamber, but Lois had kept an arm around her the whole time. The blonde suddenly understood how Whitney must feel. Overexertion was a bitch, and she hardly ever felt it.

But those eggs were strong and durable and it took intense heat to melt through the shells and consume the creatures within.

Clark had taken an unconscious Whitney back to Wes and Lois', so it was only the latter mentioned who were with the blonde as her knees buckled under her at the exhaustion she was feeling.

They only left once they were sure that all traces of the eggs had been destroyed, and when they were sure they hightailed it out of the caves as quickly as they could. When the mamas found out about what had happened to their eggs they'd be furious. The humans needed to be ready for the counterattack that was bound to happen.

"How are you feeling, Baby Cuz?" Lois asked from the front passenger's seat of Wesley's corolla, looking back at her cousin, who was lying on the backseat. "Any better?"

"Yeah." Chloe nodded, yawning. "I'm sleepy and my legs still feel like jelly, but other than that I'm fine." She sighed. "My powers never used to take so much out of me before like it has this last year."

"It's because of the glamour." Wesley spoke from the driver's seat.

The girls turned to look at him at that.

"Huh?" Chloe asked.

"The Oracles didn't  _change_ , you. It's an illusion, a  _glamour_." Wes' voice was serious, thoughtful. "Right now, when you were using so much power you nearly fainted, the glamour wore off, it didn't have enough power to sustain itself. You looked just like you used to. But when you stopped using your power when the eggs were destroyed it returned after some minutes rest."

"You're telling me that this  _glamour_  is feeding off of my Cuz's  _power_?" Lois gasped, horrified. "That  _that_  is why it's harder for her to use the same amount of power that she used to without any problems?"

Wesley nodded. "What I'd like to know is  _why_  the Oracles thought it necessary to not only cloak her with a glamour, but to use one that would affect her power."

"Are we going to have to go visit them again?" Lois made a face, obviously not happy with the idea of going to L.A. any time soon.

"I'm not going." Chloe spoke, closing her eyes. "I'm staying here. There's a maybe apocalypse in the works, and I can't waste time wondering about why I look the way I look."

"But Cuz-."

"No buts, Lois." Chloe turned her back on them. "I'm tired. Wake me up when we get home."

* * *

 

_Somehow she'd known that the trance-like sense of sleep was because they were waiting on her, and when Chloe opened her eyes she wasn't surprised to find herself in that marble room, standing in front of the Oracles._

_"You called?" Chloe asked, folding her arms over her chest._

_"As you already know, there is a great evil rising in Kansas." The male spoke. "You must not leave."_

_"You already told me that." The blonde narrowed her eyes at him. "It could have cost me my relationship with Sam but I was going to stay here."_

_"Cost you your relationship with your connection?" The female asked, sounding amused. "Your lives are intertwined now forevermore. Neither will be complete without the other." The female smiled at her. "You are our champion, we wouldn't do anything to make you unsatisfied with your position."_

_While Chloe wouldn't admit it, at least not to_ _**them** _ _, she kinda liked the sound of that. "What about this glamour you put on me? I want it off."_

_The entities shared a look before the male spoke. "You wish for us to_ _**remove** _ _that which makes you desirable to all beings?"_

_"Uh,_ _**yeah** _ _." Why was that so hard to understand? "The only being I want to desire me did so long before you went and made me Malibu Barbie." She smiled. "I am good enough for him the way I really am, and his opinion is the only one that matters."_

_"Throws away eternal life…" The male shook his head._

_"Doesn't wish to be desired by all creatures…" The female seemed just as confused._

_"What sort of phoenix_ _**are** _ _you?" They asked in unison._

_Chloe couldn't help but grin larger. "One who is happy being the way she is. I don't_ _**need** _ _guys being attracted to me, I have_ _**Sam** _ _. He's the only person I need—I want."_

_The Oracles shared a look._

_"And anyway, the glamour is doing something to my powers. Admit it." The blonde challenged them with her eyes to contradict that. "You didn't just put it on me because you thought I needed a makeover. There was another reason."_

_They were silent._

_"Look, the jig is up." She folded her arms over her chest, waiting. "Confess."_

_The male sighed, turning to look at her. "You speak the truth-the cloak we placed upon you not only changed your physical appearance but it also changed your signature."_

_"Signature?" Chloe blinked, confused._

_"Every magical being and creature has his or her own magical signature, something that differentiates you-like a human's fingerprint," the female explained. "And the phoenix-the phoenix's is the rarest, most sought after signature of them all. Cloaked your signature is weak, and only those in close vicinity will feel you, but if the cloak is removed-."_

_"Everyone will know the phoenix has returned," the male finished. "She is a coveted prize, for the light or the darkness."_

_"'She' doesn't like being referred to as a 'prize'," Chloe interjected before running her fingers through her hair and sighing. "You're telling me that the glamour-or cloak-was to keep something big and bad from noticing me." Her eyes narrowed. "_ _**The** _ _big bad thing that's going to try cause the apocalypse?"_

_The male looked away, refusing to speak, and yet the female nodded._

_"Then you're definitely going to remove this glamour." And she was serious. "If the big bad comes after me we'll finally have an idea of what we have to fight."_

_"This idea is that of a fool." The male sneered. "Bringing_ _**him** _ _to you."_

_"What sort of champion would I be if you had to protect me?" Chloe wanted to know, getting annoyed. "And I won't be alone. I have the others as well. And no one can defeat us when we're together."_

_The male scoffed._

_The female smiled and reached out her hand towards Chloe. Closing her fist around something unseen she gave a jerk, and Chloe felt as something came flowing off of her._

_The male shook his head. "You better know of what you do."_

_"Thank you." Chloe smiled, knowing that the glamour was gone._

_"Good luck, phoenix." The female bade her farewell._

_And then Chloe woke up_.

* * *

 

Sam Winchester was in desperate need of a whole bottle of Advil. His head was killing him and throbbing, and only now did he realize how much pain Chloe had taken away from him the  _first_  time he'd had a vision.

"Dude, as soon as they get here I'm outta here," Dean announced, pacing the room like a caged lion. "I need to get to dad and find out what he knows about all of this. He  _has_  to know something. You saw him in your freaky vision thingy."

Sam nodded, pressing the icepack he'd gotten from Wes's fridge harder against his throbbing head. He didn't like thinking about what he'd seen, but he knew that he was going to have to relive it to tell the others.

God, he wasn't even sure what he'd seen.

All he remembered was fire, and screams, and faces like his father's-and glowing yellow eyes in the darkness. There were many other elements that had just gone by too fast for him to notice, but he knew that if he sat down and tried to concentrate on it he'd be able to make them out.

The sickness in his stomach wished that he wouldn't, though.

He remembered seeing everyone in the Smallville Gang, remembered his brother, remembered seeing Gabe and the Kents, seeing-seeing  _Chloe_.

But  _what_?

What had those images meant?

"Dude, I'm  _fine_. Stop following me around!" The door opened and slammed shut behind Whitney and Clark.

Sam stood up. "Where's everyone else?"

"What happened to your head?" Whitney wanted to know, raising an eyebrow.

"Vision." Dean pointed in his brother's direction.

"Oh." Whitney nodded.

"Where's Chloe?" Sam asked the question he was  _really_  trying to ask the first time.

Clark smiled. "She's fine. This one over here fainted so I brought him in my truck while the others stayed behind to take care of the eggs."

"I did not  _faint_." And yet Whitney was suspiciously red. "I  _collapsed_  from overexertion."

"You  _fainted_." Clark laughed.

Whitney growled and sent a jolt of electricity at the large farmboy.

Clark winced at the pain but was still laughing.

Whitney threw his hands in the air, growled, and marched passed a wide-eyed Lana, who'd been sitting by the window and watching everyone in silence.

Clark chuckled at the blonde until he disappeared into the kitchen, then Clark turned to Lana. "You're safe now."

The brunette stood quickly. "Adam?"

Clark winced. "Dead."

Sadness flittered across Lana's eyes but then she nodded. "Okay." She then hesitated. "When-? I should wait until Wesley comes back. He—he was very good to me and I should thank him-."

"I  _doubt_  that's a good idea, Lana," Whitney advised as he returned from the kitchen with a bottle of pop. "I don't think it's a good idea that  _any_  of us be here when Lane and Wes return."

"Why not?" Lana asked primly.

"Because, Lan," Whitney announced, looking pointedly at his ex-girlfriend. "After a slay they get  _horny_."

Lana's eyes widened and she went red in the face.

Clark choked on air.

Dean leered.

Sam wondered what Whitney was up to. It was obvious that the blonde was telling Lana this for a reason, but the younger Winchester just couldn't figure out  _what_.

"Especially since they made up," Whitney continued saying after having taken a sip of the drink. "I mean, they're ridiculously all over each other while they're fine, but when they make up?  _Wow_."

Lana looked down at her feet.

And Sam suddenly realized what the blonde was doing.

And Sam was  _shocked_.

"I never saw anyone who loved each other more than those two," Whitney continued as if nothing. "And I'd  _pity_  the idiot who thought that he or she could get in between them. Wes would probably  _hex_  the poor bastard or Lois would  _beat the shit_  out of any girl who thought she could touch Wes."

Lana winced.

Sam was amused.

Who knew that Whitney, who did all he could to make people think that he could hardly stand Clark and Lois, would do his best (in his own way) to make sure that Lois' relationship wasn't going to be preyed upon by a third party?

"Why don't Kent and I drop you off wherever you have to go?" Whitney asked, placing an arm around her shoulders and already leading her out. "I have to go back to work, so does he, and the Winchesters can wait for Chloe in Sam's apartment." He waved bye to them as he and Lana passed a silent Clark.

"I—I  _guess,_ " Lana whispered, pouting slightly as her ex-boyfriend walked her out of the apartment.

Clark looked after them and followed.

Dean turned to Sam and shook his head. "Really. Those two are confusing."

Sam laughed. "How about we go to my apartment?"

"Alright." Dean sighed. "Though I would have  _loved_  to see that 'making-up' session that kid was talking about."

Sam laughed harder as they made their way out of Lois and Wes' apartment.

* * *

 

Dean Winchester had a lot to think about as he and his dear Impala drove out of Smallville, Kansas. When he'd arrived he'd thought to come check up on his brother, find out  _why_  he'd left Stanford, and then be on his way. Sammy wasn't even supposed to know that Dean had come, and yet all of this had happened.

His world had been turned upside down with the addition of Oracles and Powers that be and upcoming Apocalypses.

Come on.

APOCALYPSES!

Really, only  _Sammy_  would leave his father and brother to live a 'normal' life and end up being the connection to the powers that be for his champion girlfriend.

She was a nice girlfriend though. Even with that glamour off of her Chloe Sullivan was pretty, and what was more important, she was completely in love with his baby brother-as Sam was with her.

It was obvious in the way they looked at each other-in the desperation in their eyes as they searched the other over to make sure they were fine.

Dean smiled as he remembered the way they'd hugged when Chloe had returned to the apartment, un-glamoured and sore from excess use of her powers. Sam had taken one look at her, made sure she was fine, and then taken her into his arms and kissed her for what she was worth-which was apparently  _a lot_.

Dean's smile grew.

His brother was happy.

And that was all Dean had ever wished for in life.

 _Though, an apocalypse could very well ruin that for him_.

Sighing, Dean tried his father's number again. He  _needed_  to get into contact with the elusive John Winchester and talk face to face with the man who knew more about the paranormal and supernatural than anyone else Dean had ever met.

The phone rang and rang, and right before it went to the voicemail  _once_   _more_ , it clicked on. "Dean?"

Dean's eyes widened in surprise that he'd actually gotten a hold of his father. "Dad." He cleared his throat, his voice deepening with the seriousness of the situation. "You and me? We gotta talk."


	7. Chapter 7

Lois and Wesley had arrived to an empty apartment with a note hastily scribbled and placed on the fridge saying that Clark and Whitney had taken Lana home, and that Sam and Dean were at their apartment. Chloe had headed towards there, and while Lois knew her boyfriend was anxious to find out about what Sam's vision had been about, she was grateful when he hung back and preferred to wait.

"Lois." Wesley cleared his throat and turned to her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I want to apologize for my behavior."

Lois blinked in surprise, looking up at him from where she sat on the sofa' armrest. Why was  _Wes_ apologizing?

"It is understandable that you would find Sam's brother  _attractive_." He sneered around the word before continuing. "And I have to learn to stop being insecure about our relationship. We've been together for a while now and I have to stop worrying that you're going to wake up one day and wonder why I'm sleeping next to you."

The Slayer was shocked silent. Had Wes-had Wes just spouted her  _own_  fears word per word?

"I know that I am not much of a  _fighter_ , like Dean is. He is a lot more like you than I ever could be." Wesley took in a deep breath and went to look out of the window. "He's a fighter, brash, unfairly good-looking. He goes on his instincts,  _doesn't_  shove his nose in a bloody  _book_  every time something happens…I could understand you preferring someone like him than someone more- _boring_ -like me. And-."

Lois couldn't help it.

She  _laughed_.

She didn't  _mean_  to laugh, Wesley was putting his heart and soul and insecurities out in the open, but the relief was too great! As was the irony of the situation. "I can't believe it."

"Can't believe  _what_?" Wesley asked, turning to her, confused.

"The same things you were so insecure about  _Dean_  were what I was making me feel insecure about  _Lang_."

"Ms. Lang?" Wes frowned, even  _more_  confused. "What does  _she_  have to do with this? Why would you feel insecure about her?"

Lois stood and clutched her hands behind her back. "She reads, likes classical music, likes  _tea_." She made up her nose as if that were a capital sin. "You two have so much in common-don't think I didn't hear how you enjoyed discussing books you two had read. I-I can't share that with you, and sometimes it makes me feel stupid, and  _resentful_  of those who can." She frowned. "Especially if the one who  _can_  share that with you is supposed to be the most beautiful female in Smallville who  _always_  manages to get her claws into any male she wants."

There was a moment of silence.

"Ms. Lang is  _not_  the most beautiful female in Smallville." Wes replied seriously. "At least not to  _me_."

Lois' eyes widened and she tried to fight the blush climbing up her neck but knew it was a futile mission. "You think I'm more beautiful?"

"By  _god_ , Lois, didn't you already  _figure that out_?" He shook his head and walked towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders, his blue gaze drawing in her brown one. "I think you're the most beautiful creature I have  _ever_  seen, I'm in  _love_  with every aspect of you from your hair to your laugh, and the way you are. I love that brash, slightly violent side of yours-when you aren't using it against  _me_  of course."

Lois laughed, but the sound of thick from her emotions.

"I fell in love of you the moment I saw you-although the whole  _vomiting_  part kinda took dominance of the situation."

Lois laughed hoarsely, tears falling down her cheeks as she smiled up at him. "The reason I vomited on you in the first place was because I was  _completely_  mesmerized with you and forgot that Smallville was desperately trying to take me to the bathroom so I could heave."

Wes smiled down at her. "I  _love_  you, Lois Lane. Nothing and no one, not even  _Lana Lang,_  is going to change that."

" _I love you too_!" Lois cried out before smashing her lips to his, her tears making it salty as Wes' arms went around her tight and loving and comforting.

Lois lost herself to that kiss, happy, knowing that everything was going to be alright.

* * *

 

They'd dropped Lana off at her aunt Nell's and driven in silence to the sports store that Whitney worked in. Together they entered, glad that no one had come since his disappearance to realize the relative mess, and both males had put things back in order. Whitney felt a little awkward with the silence, since it was something  _odd_  between him and Clark. Usually they spent their time taking jabs at each other, but ever since they'd left Wes' apartment Clark had been somehow  _silent_.

Whitney began to wonder if it wasn't because of Lana.

The girl  _had_  been Clark's 'one true love', hadn't she? He'd traded his powers for her life. If that wasn't a show of pure love nothing was.

So obviously seeing Lana like this, obviously interested in Wesley, must have hurt him.

For Whitney it'd been obvious-Lana's attraction for the Watcher-even though he'd never seen them together. In Wes and Lois' apartment she'd acted the same way she'd acted around  _him_  when she'd started liking  _Clark_. It'd been like walking down memory lane for Whitney to see his ex that way, and he guessed it must have been the same way for Clark.

The only difference was that Clark was still in love with Lana.

"You're going to have to get used to the thought of her always finding someone else unless you can think of some way of getting her back," he muttered to the dark-haired alien as they straightened a shelf of shoes.

"Huh?" Clark asked, looking a little confused.

"Lana." Whitney didn't know why the farm boy was acting so innocent. "Everyone knows that she's going to be the only girl for you forever, and that it must hurt you that she keeps hooking up with random guys you have to end up saving her from. Usually I wouldn't step in, but I felt like I had to this time." He snorted, picking up the fallen shoeboxes. "I mean, I mightn't like  _Lane_  much, but I like Wes, and I know he's in love with the Slayer, and wouldn't be too happy if Lana made things tense between him and Lane."

Clark was silent for a moment, before something changed in his appearance, although Whitney couldn't really tell what it was. It kind of looked like relief though. "So  _you're_  not trying to get back with her."

"With Lana?" Whitney made a face when Clark nodded. " _Hell_  no. I escaped without going insane  _twice_ , three times is kinda asking for it."

Clark snorted a short laughter and continued working silently, though something had changed in him. He seemed more relaxed.

Whitney shook his head at Clark as he began to hum some theme song, obviously now content that he knew Whitney had no interest in moving on Lana.

The guy was  _so_  easy to read.

"So, see you tonight at Wes' for movie and popcorn?" Clark asked as he put away the last shoebox, hesitating.

"Was that tonight?" Whitney frowned, remembering having made the appointment for a movie night, but hadn't realized that it'd be  _tonight_. "No can do man," he suddenly grinned. "I got myself a hot date."

Clark paused. "Oh, really?"

"It's not with  _Lana_ , so don't look at me that suspiciously!" Whitney chuckled, looking around the store and smiling when he realized that everything was put nice and neatly back in its place. His boss wouldn't even realizethat something had happened while he was gone.

"With who?"

Whitney sidled a glance at the farm boy. "'Member Mellissa Ryan from high school?"

Clark frowned for a second, obviously thinking. "The cheerleader? A redhead?"

"Yeah, she was a year below us." Whitney nodded with a leer. "Well, she gave me her number at the party before all the madness happened and decided to go clubbing tonight in Metropolis. There's this nightclub there,  _Neptune_ , I hear it's  _insane_."

"It's okay." Clark looked away.

"Okay?" Whitney grinned. "You mean you've  **been**  there before? Kent, you're not half bad."

Clark looked down at his shoes. "Technically it was  _Kal_  who spent the time in Neptune, not me."

Whitney's smile disappeared as he remembered the story. When he'd been in high school he'd only thought that Clark had left, disappeared, only after he'd joined the gang had he been told the  _whole_  story, of how Clark had used RedK to turn into his alternate personality and had run away to Metropolis for the summer until Lois and Chloe had found him, gotten the RedK out of his system, and dragged his ass back to Smallville.

Clark was still silent.

"You know," Whitney mused. "I would probably  _like_  Kal." His grin grew larger. "I bet he got more chicks than you did."

For some reason Clark wouldn't look at him.

Whitney frowned.

Clark should have had some snappy comeback.

He always did.

Something-the thing with  _Lana_ -must be bothering him a lot more than Whitney had first thought.

"You're going to start brooding again, aren't you?" Whitney sighed.

"Huh?" Clark  _finally_  looked at him, confused.

"You're going to think about the past and get all sentimental and crap like you always do. You  _sissy_." Whitney groaned, placing his fingers to the bridge of his nose and breathing out hard. "Alright,  _fine_."

"Uhm,  _Whit_?" Clark seemed unsure. "What are you agreeing to?"

Picking up his phone, Whitney ignored him as he marked the last called number and brought the ringing device to his ear, waiting until a cheery voice answered him.

" _Hey Whitney!_ "

"Mel." Whitney ran his fingers through his hair. "How you doing?"

" _Excited about tonight_." The smile was evident in her voice.

"Uhm, yeah, about that. I was talking to my wingman and he reminded me that I actually already have something I need to do tonight." Whitney sighed. "Can we reschedule for tomorrow instead?"

There was a pause. " _Oh. Okay. Sure. No problem_."

"Great. Talk to you later." Hanging up he turned to Clark. "This better be a  _good_ movie tonight."

Clark was silent before finally shaking his head and grinning.

* * *

 

It'd started innocently enough.

After Dean had left Chloe and Sam had tried talking, but somehow their lips found each other and from then on the innocence had died tragically.

Chloe felt her body warming, her heart racing as she pushed forwards, upwards towards him, always towards him. She pushed Sam until the back of his calves hit the sofa and with a little cry he'd fallen down, the blonde only following him onto the sofa, straddling him seductively before lowering her lips to his and reclaiming them in a kiss as hungry as she was for him.

Sam hissed, his large hands trailing down the expanse of her back and resting on her hips, fingers digging in nearly painfully as his hardness throbbed against her.

Chloe blushed scarlet and pulled away from the kiss, panting from desire. Sure, she wanted him, desired him with all of her being, but she was still a virgin, and while she technically knew what to do thanks to Lois' love of talking about her and Wes' sex-life, Chloe was a little unsure of how to proceed from thereon.

Sam's breath was as erratic as hers, his eyes a dark, molten mixture of colors heated only for her. "Chloe?"

"I'm a virgin." She knew that he must already know this, but still it was embarrassing to admit. What if he just didn't like her? Like  _it_? What if he compared it to the times he was with other women and found her  _lacking_?

What if-?

"So am I."

Chloe's eyes widened as she was torn out of her doubts and fears. "You're lying!"

She  _refused_  to believe it.

There was  _no way_  that someone as sweet and  _sexy_  as Sam Winchester was a virgin at  _twenty-two_.

Sam blushed, looking away. "While I was growing up I only stayed in one place long enough to kill the baddie, nothing else." He sighed. "And when I got to Stanford I met  _you_."

Chloe was shocked as she looked down at the handsome hunk beneath her saying that he was a virgin and had waited for  _her_.

_God, I love this guy!_

Smiling, Chloe slowly lowered her face to Sam's, her breath tickling his skin before she began to nibble her way up his strong jaw line. Alternating between flicks of her tongue and nibbles, the blonde grinned against his skin when Sam groaned as her hot breath tickled his ear and she softly grabbed the lobe between her teeth, giving it a playful little tug.

Sam's hands clenched in her plaid skirt, bunching it up in his fingers, exposing her milky thighs and leaving her vulnerable to his shy yet determined exploration. Sam was a scholar by nature, and somehow Chloe knew that he'd never be content until he'd learnt all there was to her body.

And the thought turned her on even  _more_.

Bucking against his hardness, Chloe bit back a giggle when Sam cursed and he nearly tore the skirt off of her, his body tense, ready,  _waiting_.

" _Fuck_." Sam's eyes closed, his face contorting as she began to slowly, deviously buck against him.

Chloe smiled evilly into his face, enjoying the look of  _agony_  that twisted his features as his breath caught in his throat and his lips parted-but that was before she brushed against something that sent a jolt of electricity up her spine, and a cry of pleasure escaped her mouth.

She wanted to feel that  _again_.

Pressing down a little harder Chloe whimpered as she brushed against it once more, feeling that magical sense of pleasure and agony return. To quiet her cries she swooped forwards and captured Sam's lips, surprised by how dominant she was being, yet drugged by the feeling, by the power, by the  _feel_  and  _taste_ of the one she loved.

Sam's hands trailed heavily up her body once more and gripped so hard at the back of her shirt that she was  _sure_  she heard the fabric rip, but Chloe couldn't have cared less as Sam kissed her with so much fire and passion that she was losing herself happily to him.

Suddenly she was in the air being lowered to the sofa, and Sam pulled away, his hands going to his jeans desperately, shucking them and his boxers. He stood before her naked like a pantheon god, muscles and tanned skin, and deep eyes that ate her alive.

And then he'd descended on her once more with a ferocity that both surprised and exited her. Sam's lips traveled down her neck and her shoulders, his hands going to the front of her blouse before tearing it apart and off of her with one mighty, vicious tug.

Somehow he'd even managed to rip her  _bra_ , and those things were  _sturdy_.

Gasping, blush trailing down her neck to her chest, Chloe blushed harder at the way Sam was admiring her. He was staring at her as if she were something precious, but before it could get embarrassed he took away  _all_  thought by bringing his lips to a pink nibble and sucking on it.

Heat flew to the vee of Chloe's thighs and she arched her back, crying out.

Sam chuckled against her skin, obviously pleased by her reaction, and before Chloe could berate him for his amusement he'd once more taken all her breath by carefully placing his teeth around the hard numb and pulling slightly.

" _Sam_!" Chloe cried, arching further, offering herself up to him.

He let go of the nub and gave it a flick of his tongue, grin smug. "I like the sound of you crying out my name."

To get back at him Chloe bucked against his length once more, the only barrier between them the thin material of her underwear. The blonde hissed out a word that would make even a  _sailor_  blush as the feeling returned  _tenfold_ , making her body  _tremble_ from ache.

" _Fuck_." Sam cursed, something he hardly ever did, before he reached between them and grabbed hold of her underwear, tugging at it viciously.

Chloe hissed at the slight burn as the underwear was ripped from her, but the hiss transformed into a moan as she was now in direct contact with Sam's heat, could feel him throbbing against her wetness.

" _Sam_ …" She pleaded.

" _I know_." And then he shifted, his hands going between them, positioning himself at her entrance.

Green orbs widened as she felt him.

 _He's not going to fit_!

Chloe closed her eyes tightly as she realized just how  _big_  he was.

Pushing his head within her heat, Sam returned his hands to her hips and closed his eyes, a muscle jumping in his cheek as he kept himself from just pushing down and impaling her on him.

Chloe winced, jerking slightly at the pain and burn she felt as he slowly slid inch by inch inside of her. She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out as it got worse and worse, and right before she could ask him to stop Sam pushed her down the rest of the way, impaling her completely and sending a jolt of agony through her system.

The blonde couldn't keep her cry silent as she hid her face in his chest, tears coming to her eyes at the pain.

"Chloe?" Sam whispered, worried. "Are you okay? Does it hurt too much? Do you want to stop?"

"I'm fine." She shook her head, sniffling. "Just give me some time to get accustomed to you."

If Lois could do this so could  _she_.

Sam nodded and hugged her, pressing a kiss to her hair.

And yet she could feel his desire and need inside of her as it throbbed with his suppressed hunger.

The blonde loved him so much more at that moment.

She then noticed that the pain had been substituted for a slight burn, and gave an experimental buck, causing both of them to gasp in delirium as the movement caused him to slid partially out of her only to have him thrust right back in.

This was- _good_.

Taking her initiative as a sign to continue, Sam slowly began to move within her, careful not to hurt her. His tenderness was amazing, and she loved him so much more for it, but Chloe wanted  _more_  so she bucked hard, pressing down when he pushed up and hit something inside of her that caused her to cry out  _loudly_.

The sound startled them both.

Sam smiled up at her before bringing her lips to his and kissing her as they began to move together as one once more. Agony and bliss mixed like a drug and Chloe trembled as he moved in and out of her, her body throbbing with pleasure, heat coiling in her stomach as their pace grew more and more desperate.

Both knew they wouldn't last long, not tonight at least, but Chloe's climax took her by surprise. One minute the heat was coiling tighter and tighter in her stomach, and then the next it'd snapped in a fury of sensations and colors, Chloe's fingernails biting viciously into Sam's shoulders…and he was crying out her name as her spasming around him took him with her.

When it was over Chloe collapsed against Sam, legs shaky, panting, exhausted, sated,  _happy_.

"Why…" She took in a deep breath. " _Why_  did we wait so long to do that again?"

"Statutory rape? Prison? Me being someone's  _bitch_?" Sam chuckled, voice hoarse, as he lifted her off of him and stood up, pulling her up as well as they made their way to the bedroom.

"So eager for more?" Chloe teased as Sam dragged her to the bed.

The brunet blushed. "You need to rest. You overused your powers. We should  _sleep_."

Chloe smiled as she got in. "It's the middle of the day." And yet she was yawning as he joined her. "And you haven't told me about your vision yet."

"Later." He pulled her to him, breathing in the scent of sex and her shampoo. "Rest now."

Chloe, tired from overexertion of her powers and sated from their lovemaking, closed her eyes and did as told, falling asleep to the sound of Sam's beating heart.

They both knew that horrible times were fast approaching them, but right now, in each other arms, the world was perfect.


End file.
